Beautiful, Broken, Deadly
by ifYouDieInCanada
Summary: Harry grew up with his relatives, but they never treated him quite right. When he discovers the magical world, Harry discovers that he is the brother of the famous Boy-Who-Lived, raised by his parents. The quiet, dark Harry is placed into Slytherin, and soon, he discovers a whole new world of magic he is only too happy to use... My first fanfic, tell me what's good and what's not!
1. Chapter 1

A sudden bang on the door. Just like every morning, but the boy had already been awake. The door to his closet opened, and he stepped out, warily eyeing the hands of his giraffe-necked aunt.

"Go, boy," she said, "the bacon's about to burn."

He sighed, but inwardly, for he didn't want to imagine what would happen if that were audible. Once he reached the stove, he continued his aunt's cooking, being careful not to burn the bacon or spill any eggs. He groaned then, remembering of course what day it was. His cousin's birthday, his most hated day of the year.

"Boy!" came a loud yell from the kitchen table, and the boy shrank back in fear. "Look at this bacon! It's disgusting! I wanted everything perfect for the little tyke's birthday, and you go and ruin everything with your...your...your freakishness!"

The boy waited and knew what was coming, and didn't bother to dodge the hand that came and knocked him to the ground. The boy heard laughter from the kitchen, and knew his cousin, or as he thought of him, his whale, had come down the stairs. But he said nothing, just waited until the hand didn't come back for more, stood up with difficulty, and continued cooking the bacon. He had learned from an early age that talking back just meant more beatings, and so he stayed quiet, seething with a silent, cold fury.

 _One day_ ,the boy thought, _one day, they'll get it all back._

He finished his cooking, deposited the food on the table, and begged silently that he would be sent to his room, and for once, was given mercy. His room, of course, was a cupboard under the stairs, but it didn't bother him so much anymore. He opened the door, and lay down on the mattress in the cupboard, the only thing there besides spiders, dust, and a few stolen action figures and paperbacks, kept secret because his relatives refused to step foot in the closet. He laughed quietly to himself, eating the bacon he had masterfully concealed in his hands and pockets, and imagining the different ways his aunt, uncle, and cousin would meet an unfortunate, very accidental end. He could make strange things happen, the boy, and he knew it, too. He had controlled these things since he was six, made these little accidents so insignificant that his relatives hadn't even punished him for it. His cousin had accidentally tripped once, of course, nothing to do with this boy. When he was allowed outside, no one recognized him, which had, of course, nothing to do with the fact that his cousin enjoyed hunting him, only to beat him to a pulp. He was always warm, despite his cold, lonely cupboard, even in the winters. And his favorite of all, his bright, shockingly green eyes could pulse with an almost palpable hatred, a shine that made them appear so intensely bright that it instilled fear in the other children at the park. But of course, none knew his name, or his true appearance, the boy with jet black hair that never stood straight and emerald eyes, the boy who was skinny as a stick from years of malnutrition, the boy with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. The boy whose name was Harry Potter.

"Boy, get the post!" Harry was snapped from his daydreams by the yell of his uncle, Vernon.

Harry went to get the post, and found three letters awaiting him, and idly looked at the names on the envelopes. He almost gasped when he saw the letter in green ink to one "Mr. H. Potter" who lived in "The Cupboard under the Stairs" at "4 Privet Drive". But he knew better than that, and threw the letter in his cupboard on the way to the kitchen. He handed Uncle Vernon the remaining post, and nothing seemed out of place. Of course, now that the Dursleys – his relatives – had finished eating, he was expected to clean up. And so he did, scrubbing the pots and pans, clearing the table, and when they weren't looking, allowing a plate or a stray fork to clean itself with his abilities. He listened as Dudley whined about receiving too few presents, as was usual, and watched him open them eagerly. Harry waited impatiently, and after what seemed like days, he went back to his cupboard, and closed the door, pulling a paperback out from behind the mattress. He read until he was certain the Dursleys were all asleep, and then pulled out the letter.

Harry carefully used his fingers to break the red wax seal, and unfolded the contents. He read through the letter, his face becoming more incredulous with each line.

 _A school_ _for people like me? Well, they must at least be real wizards to know I exist,_ he thought. He grabbed a pen and paper he kept for writing in his spare time, and wrote back a quick reply, happily accepting the offer, but stating he did not know where to get the supplies. He slept happily that night for the first time in many years.

The next morning's response was very prompt, and most certainly did not come with the mail. Harry found it on his stomach when he woke up, which, due to old habits, was very early. He eagerly tore it open, and found that one Albus Dumbledore had promised to send a representative to help him obtain his supplies that day. So when there was a knock on the door during breakfast, Harry swiftly stood up and answered it, much to the confusion of his relatives, and came face to face with a man who looked very disheveled, as though he had just been in a fight. Startled, he took a step back. Uncle Vernon, who had by now come into the hallway, looked at the man and immediately burst into screams.

"I will not have him leaving with you, you freak! You left him here when he was a baby, and that means to me you'll never come back!"

"He must come with us now, it's time for him to go to Hogwarts. I'm afraid I must take him, and if you won't let me then I will have to make you let me," the stranger calmly replied.

Uncle Vernon turned purple and bellowed, "HE WILL NOT LEAVE THIS HOUSE!"

The stranger sighed, and pulling out a narrow piece of wood, said, "The hard way, then." He waved the wood, and Uncle Vernon fell over, unconscious. Harry wondered why he would need the wood, when he himself had done something similar with just his thoughts and a hand motion.

"Come with me," the stranger said, "I'll explain everything on the way. Grab onto my arm."

Harry did as he was told, and felt the uncomfortable feeling of being stretched and squeezed through a narrow tube. When his feet hit solid ground again, he saw a multitude of people with funny hats and robes. A long street with storefronts all along it was in front of him, disorienting him with its variety of colors and its noise.

"Who are you?" Harry now demanded.

"Remus Lupin," the stranger replied. "Dumbledore sent me to help you. Come, let's head to Ollivander's first, that's where you'll get your wand."

"My...wand?"

"You're a wizard, your relatives told you that, didn't they?" Lupin asked.

"No..." Harry replied cautiously, and it wasn't even a lie, as he himself had discovered it.

"Merlin's beard, Harry, then I have much to show you and much to tell you. You'll be going to Hogwarts next year, where they teach you to control your magic. You might have noticed strange things happening around you before this, which we call accidental magic. This is Diagon Alley, where you can get everything you need. Up there is Gringotts, the wizarding bank, but we've already withdrawn money for you."

"I have an account?" Harry asked curiously.

"Your family is one of the oldest wizarding families in Britain, Harry," Lupin responded.

"Why hasn't anyone told me this before? My parents?"

"The wizarding world thought you dead, Harry, and Dumbledore found out otherwise when you sent that letter back. It came as a complete shock to all of us. Your parents live at Potter Manor with your brother, Jason. He's a bit of a celebrity here, as he vanquished the Dark Lord when he was one...that's when you died, or well, when everyone thought you did. You just vanished, no trace."

"Ah."

Harry walked along in silence, pondering this furiously. He couldn't have just vanished, could he? And he wouldn't have known his relatives, that's for certain, so he wouldn't even have accidentally gone there. There was a lot wrong with the story, he decided, and he had to find out what. For now, though, he'd play the young not-quite-orphan to glean as much information as he could.

"And the Dark Lord you mentioned, who's that?" Harry asked.

"His name was...his name...well, we don't speak it, just say 'You-Know-Who' if you must, but he called himself Lord...Lord Voldemort," Lupin answered. "He did terrible things, recruited witches and wizards alike and killed many a Muggle and Muggle-born."

"Muggle? Muggle-born?" Harry prompted.

"Oh, sorry, a Muggle is a non-magical person, a Muggle-born is a witch or wizard born to Muggles. The purebloods, that is, people of entirely wizard heritage, well, they don't like the Muggle-borns so much, and most of them were only too happy when You-Know-Who came around."

"So what happened to them?"

"Well, most of them got off, claimed they were controlled at the time by You-Know-Who himself."

They'd reached a more rickety looking storefront, a sign in front of which read "Ollivander's". Lupin gestured Harry in, and Harry obediently walked inside. A frail old man stood behind the counter, watching him

"Mr. Potter, what a surprise! Your brother was in here just a day ago getting his wand, too," the man, who Harry assumed was Ollivander, said. "Let's see what we have for you today."

And so began an hour long search through many a box, Ollivander pulling down a box and handing it to Harry, who then waved it to various effects, most of which involved explosions, smashing glass, or both. After this hour of one disaster after another, Ollivander handed Harry a wand with a strange gleam, an almost hopeful gleam, in his eye, as though he were expecting something grand.

"Eleven inches. Holly and phoenix feather," Ollivander told Harry, as he had done for all the previous wands.

Harry gave it a wave, but the result was no different as the first few wands. Harry sighed, and consigned himself to another few hours of this wand testing. Soon enough though, Ollivander gave Harry a wand from somewhere in the back of his shop which immediately felt warm in his hand, and sent a surge of power pulsing up his arm and through his chest. Harry gave it a wave, and sparks of every color came pouring out of it. Ollivander looked surprised, the first true emotion Harry had seen on the frail old man's face.

"This wand...this wand was made by an American, a gift to me to sell, it has been at the back of my shop for years," the old wandmaker explained. "I've never seen a wizard able to use it. Its core is White River Monster spine, of all the things to use, makes for very powerful and very elegant spellwork."

Harry couldn't shake the feeling that Ollivander sounded almost...disappointed. Almost as though he had been expecting something with that phoenix feather wand. Harry shook his head, and all but ran out of the shop after Lupin payed, wanting to get as far from Ollivander as he could.

"What about books?" Harry asked Lupin as he left the shop. "The list said something about books, and I'd love to see the bookstore."

And so it was that they headed to Flourish and Blotts for Harry's school books, but upon entering, he knew he would need more time. He browsed the shelves, occasionally asking Lupin about a book or subject. Lupin, as it turned out, was quite studious himself, and Harry left the store with quite a few more books than just his school books. Afterwards, they stopped at many a store, getting the rest of his supplies, until there were only two stops left. The first – Madam Malkin's, to get Harry's school uniform. As they entered, a bell chimed, and a woman appeared.

"Hogwarts, dear?" asked the witch, without looking at Harry.

"Yes," he replied hesitantly.

The witch looked at him then, and saw the state of his clothes, which were just Dudley's old rags, at least three sizes too big for him.

"No, no, you need new clothes, a new wardrobe altogether," the witch said matter-of-factly. "And you won't have to pay a cent for it, just look at those clothes," she trailed off, muttering incoherently. Much like in the wand shop, Harry now spent an hour trying on clothes of all sorts, until he had a decent wardrobe that he liked, complete with Hogwarts robes. He thanked the witch very much, and left with Lupin to purchase an owl for mail. Harry realized then that that explained the post being delivered at odd times, and decided it would be very useful to have one for himself indeed. He entered the shop in awe, looking around at all the animals. Harry was overwhelmed by the sounds of the owls hooting, the cats purring, and the snakes...talking. Not hissing, talking, and more specifically, loudly complaining about hunger or the need to move around the shop. Harry assumed it was just another wizard thing, as Lupin didn't seem to mind the talking snakes, but Harry wondered then why the snakes were kept in cages and not fed when asked, as they did seem very hungry. He shrugged, and went about looking at the owls, trying to find one he liked. All of the owls hooted excitedly at seeing Harry, but he soon noticed an eagle owl sitting on a perch silently, looking almost as though it were trying to sleep.

"Hey there," Harry murmured to it. Its head perked up, and the owl hooted indignantly at being woken up, but shifted onto Harry's shoulder nonetheless.

"This one," Harry told Lupin, who then relayed it to the shop owner.

Harry left the shop with the owl in a cage in hand, deciding to name her Hestia, after a goddess he had read about once in the library, where he frequently hid from his cousin and his friends.

"Just one more thing..." Harry said quietly. "Where do I go now?"

"You'll be spending the rest of your time at Potter Manor, with your parents and your brother," Lupin replied. "They're all very excited to meet you."

 _So excited they didn't come themselves_ , thought Harry sullenly and resentfully.

He nevertheless grabbed onto Lupin's arm, and was transported via the funny tube feeling, which Lupin said was Apparition, to a large, expansive lawn. He looked up, and saw a path ahead of him, leading to the largest house he had ever seen. The house was three stories tall, and must have had at least ten rooms extending on either side on each floor from a central entrance, judging from the windows. Lupin and Harry silently walked up the path. Lupin knocked on the door, which was promptly answered by a diminutive elf.

"Master Lupin sir!" she squeaked, scrutinizing Harry, and seemingly not recognizing him. Harry hadn't expected her to recognize him, as after all, he currently had brown hair and blue eyes, not his usual black hair and green eyes, which he presumed were inherited from his parents. His presumption was proven correct almost immediately when a man appeared next to the elf in the doorway. Harry almost took a small step back in shock, as the man was a spitting image of himself, except with brown eyes instead of green, and twenty years older. His father, he guessed.

"Come on in, Remus, come on in, and this is...?" the man said.

"Your son, James, this is Harry Potter," Lupin replied. So they hadn't been expecting him then, Harry realized, though Lupin had said otherwise. Or perhaps they were expecting a boy with more similarities to the parents, not a quiet, brown-haired, blue-eyed boy. Now James stepped back in shock, looking as though he had been burned. Harry caught the quick look of surprise, as well as a flash of something else in his eyes. Anger? Disgust? Whatever it was, Harry thought, it hadn't been anything positive, and Harry immediately became more wary of the man. The man, James, as Lupin had called him, ushered them in, and seated them in a grand parlor, furnished with many cushy armchairs and a few sofas. A woman came in from another room nearby. The first thing Harry noticed was her eyes. Just like his, a startling emerald green. Other than her eyes, she looked nothing like Harry, with red hair and different facial features. She sat down on an armchair across from Harry, and gently introduced herself as Lily Potter. His mother.

"Jason!" yelled James up a nearby staircase. "Come down to the parlor!"

Soon after, Harry cringed as he heard the stairs thumping, a sound that reminded him of his cousin making his way downstairs, a sound that always meant trouble. As he came to a stop in front of Harry, he looked curiously at Harry. Harry looked back at Jason, his brother, he reminded himself, and wondered why he also looked almost identical to Harry, once again bar his eyes. Jason was the spitting image of his father.

"Who are you?" Jason asked, a rather rude undertone to his voice.

"Harry. Harry Potter." replied Harry coolly.

"Harry...my brother Harry? But you look nothing like anyone in the family! And besides, he's been dead for years!"

"I noticed," Harry remarked dryly.

"Dumbledore received a reply from him about Hogwarts," Lupin cut in quickly. "He checked the enrollment book afterwards and everything, and that is enchanted with strong magic. I believe he performed a few identity spells on the house as well, and he is who he says he is."

They talked for a little while longer, James looking uncomfortable, Lily with tears in her eyes, and Jason looking rather disgruntled, until Lupin left. Lily then quickly informed Harry that they always had spare rooms set up, and that she would show him around and he could choose one. In the end, he picked a room decorated in mild shades with a very simple, albeit large, bed and furniture. Looking out the window, he saw six goalposts with rings in the yard, and resolved to ask what they were used for. He collapsed on the bed, not realizing how tired he was, and the next thing he heard was the squeaky elf telling Harry to get up for dinner. He walked down the hall, and down the stairs, and headed toward the large kitchen of the expansive manor. He sat down at the table at a place left for him.

"What are those rings in the field?" he asked.

"Quidditch goals," replied Jason, who then promptly launched into an explanation as to how Quidditch worked. Harry tried his best to follow, and at the end of the explanation, thought he had a good grip on how it worked. For the most part after that, he stayed silent, listening to their conversation, paying particular attention when the topic of Hogwarts came up. The house system was explained to Harry, and it wasn't lost to him that they harbored a deep hatred for Slytherin. The house of snakes, they called it, though Lily reluctantly told him it was the house of cunning and ambition. She seemed a little more open-minded than the rest, but all in all, Harry could tell she was simply more subtle about her hatred of the house. Jason was hoping for Gryffindor, of course, though with as much brainwashing as he had had, Harry was not surprised at all to hear it. It certainly explained the red and gold everywhere though. After dinner, James suggested that Jason show Harry the Quidditch ground and the brooms, and Harry found that flying a broom was actually much easier than he had initially thought; even Jason seemed surprised by his innate skill, and Harry had heard much over dinner of Jason's flying ability.

He had learned much over dinner, he realized. His brother was praised in the world as "The Boy Who Lived", while Harry himself was thought dead, and most had not even known of his existence in the first place. James and Lily had told him that they had thought him dead, but that didn't explain how he'd ended up at the Dursleys. His parents had also told him they'd cut all contact with the Dursleys after the twins were born, which meant Harry had never seen their home. That, in turn, Harry reasoned, meant he could not have accidentally vanished himself away. Someone had taken him there, of that he was sure, and even more certain was he of the fact that it had been a witch or wizard.

The attack of Lord Voldemort they had told him of explained his nightmares, too. The scream of a woman, the begging: Lily Potter. The flashes of red as his parents were stunned. And the flash of green coming towards him that never hit. A curse of some kind, he reasoned, meant to kill him, as it would seem by their explanation.

He and Jason walked in silence back to the house, put their brooms away, and headed upstairs to their respective bedrooms. Harry flopped himself onto his bed. His bed. Harry had never dared to dream that one day, he might be able to call a proper bed his. He stared at the ceiling, wondering, trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle of his life together, but eventually, he fell asleep trying.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry woke early the next morning, as he always did, and grabbed a book from his new trunk, and eagerly started reading. He had been told the previous evening that he was free to practice spells for school at the manor, and he intended to take full advantage of this offer. Harry flipped through a book compiling charms and jinxes that he had bought, which included every level of spells. He quickly started on a spell to make light from his wand, _Lumos_. He found it to be easy, and tried it again, but without saying the words, once again easily managing the task. He had, in his cupboard, managed to make a floating ball of light in his palm and at the top of his closet to read in the dark, and this was no different. He flipped through the pages until he found something he had not managed to do before. _Petrificus totalus_ , said the page, a spell to bind someone's body completely so as to immobilize them. He had, on occasion, tripped his cousin, but had never done this. However, he quickly encountered a problem. He had nothing to test this on, and so decided it would have to wait, but he practiced the movements regardless. He practiced shooting it at a shelf in his room, and then tried without the wand and incantation, but of course, had no way of testing its effectiveness. Harry worked instead on a shield charm he found, which he realized was of a much higher level than first year. The charm, _Protego_ , did not work for him on the first try this time, and he spent the remainder of the morning mastering the charm with his wand, though he found, once again, that it came easier without it and just as easily without the incantation.

Harry left the room, and headed downstairs, not really expecting to eat breakfast, but found it on the table regardless. He took a small bit of toast, but nothing more, he was not used to eating very much. James and Lily, who were sitting at the table discussing mundane things, did not seem to notice. That day, more wizards were to come to the manor, for what was apparently a celebration for Jason's birthday. Harry had asked them not to make a big deal of him that year, with his parents agreeing to only a private celebration for him. They had still not seen his true face, and though he would be introduced to the wizarding children that day, he did not wish to make a big deal of his birthday. The fact that anyone remembered was enough for him, though he suspected they only remembered because he shared a birthday with his twin.

Harry had just finished munching his toast when the doorbell rang, and soon, a family of red-headed wizards entered. He spotted five children in total, four boys and a girl, and their two parents. He hung back as Jason excitedly ran towards the youngest boy, and relayed to him the events of the previous day. As Harry came out from the next room, where he had been listening, Jason introduced him to the youngest boy, who was called Ronald Weasley, or just Ron, as he preferred. Ronald was looking rather wide-eyed at the newest Potter, as were the other redheads, who had been near enough to hear Jason's rushed tale.

"Oh, nonsense," said the mother. "Harry's been dead for ten years. I'll go speak with Lily and James."

Harry snickered when she looked back at him wide-eyed after a hushed conversation with his parents. After the staring and uncomfortable questions were over, Jason and Ronald ran off into the field with brooms to fly, with the two older boys laughing and walking behind. They introduced themselves as Fred and George. Harry wasn't sure what to make of them, as they seemed to find Harry's non-death amusing, calling it the greatest prank they'd seen. Harry stayed behind, falling in step with the young girl, who walked dreamily behind the others. He noticed that she seemed to stare at Jason while he flew, and smirked slightly. He'd seen enough of that in primary school that he knew what it meant.

"Why don't you fly with them?" he asked her curiously.

Her expression darkened. "I'm not allowed to," came her response. "Mum thinks I'll fall and die, but I fly better than Ron. I'm Ginny, by the way, Ginny Weasley."

"Pleased to meet you, Ginny, I'm sure you know by now who I am," he replied. "How do you know you're better than Ron if you're not allowed to fly?"

She reddened, not having realized her slip. "I sneak out at night to fly," she admitted reluctantly. "Mum doesn't know, and I'll kill you if you tell."

"Of course I won't," Harry replied, almost laughing.

"Why aren't you flying?" Ginny asked.

"Because you weren't, you seemed lonely."

Ginny blushed slightly and said nothing, but went back to watching Jason fly, once again with an adoring look in her eyes. Harry watched her a little more, but soon lost interest, and pulled out a school book to read.

"Do you go to Hogwarts this year?" Ginny asked jealously.

"Yeah, I take it you're too young?" Harry asked, somewhat amused.

"I'm going next year," she replied, a bit happier at the prospect.

They sat in the grass, watching the others for a bit, until Harry went back to his book, a particularly interesting one about potions. An hour later, the adults called them in for lunch. The tension at the table hung thick over them, and Harry knew he was the cause of it. The father of the Weasleys seemed to regard him kindly enough, and continually asked him about the uses of Muggle inventions and innovations, but the mother was rather cold toward him, something Harry couldn't explain. While he was all too happy to explain to Mr. Weasley the function of a rubber duck, he didn't like the disdain coming from Mrs. Weasley. However, he was mostly able to ignore it by talking to Ginny, who sat next to him throughout lunch. This probably did nothing to halt Mrs. Weasley's glare, but it had been a long time since he had expected any love from people.

Later that day, more people arrived from various pureblood families for a more formal celebration of the eleventh birthday of the Boy-Who-Lived, during which Harry hid himself in his room, as he didn't quite want the contact with society, nor did he want everyone demanding a retelling of his story and abysmal home life. Harry sprawled himself on the bed, watching the gala from the window above his bed. He didn't recognize anyone, though, and soon lost interest and went back to his book. He only looked up at a knock on his door. He looked up and saw Ginny standing in the doorway.

"Too boring for you? Done staring at Jason for the day?" he laughed.

"I don't...I don't..." she spluttered. "Anyway, they're not letting me do anything. Thought I could come up here for a bit."

"You do stare, and sure, stay here a bit." Harry sat up, so Ginny would have space to comfortably sit. She smiled and sat down, and they were soon talking about Hogwarts, and the topics they were most excited to learn.

"Hey, Ginny, you want to try some magic?" Harry asked.

"Well, I'd love to, but I don't have a wand," she replied.

"Use mine for a bit," he said, handing it over. "Here, try _Lumos_ , you've seen that one, right?" Harry took his wand back for a second to demonstrate it, and then taught it to Ginny. It didn't work for her at first, but soon, she was getting a weak light, and after a while, she managed quite a strong light for a wand that wasn't her own. Harry advised her to try it without the incantation, and she looked at him like he'd grown a third head.

"What?" Harry asked.

"That's sixth year material, at least," Ginny said.

"So, no reason you can't do it, this spell is first year stuff and you're not in Hogwarts," Harry reasoned. "All that matters is that you want it to happen badly enough."

So Ginny tried it wordlessly with Harry's advice in mind, and nothing happened.

"Try again," said Harry. And so she did. Again and again and again until she could do it perfectly.

"See?" Harry said. "It's not as hard as they say. Our secret."

Ginny just looked up at him, and smiled. "Thanks," she said. "Our secret." Suddenly, they heard the Weasley parents calling for Ginny, and noticed that the gala had ended while they were up there. Ginny smiled once more at him, and then quickly hugged him, not noticing him shrinking back, and ran down the stairs to the fireplace.

The rest of the summer was spent in a similar fashion, the Weasleys coming over often, Harry and Ginny teaching themselves some new spells while the others played Quidditch. Ginny grew to admire Harry, but much to her chagrin, she still often stared at Jason, which Harry frequently commented on, laughing the whole time. Though, at least Ginny thought stubbornly, she did it less often than before. Through his interactions with Jason and his friends, Harry learned much about his newfound family. Jason and Ronald were a bit too arrogant for his liking, as was his father on many occasions, he noticed. His mother was far more reserved, and it was often impossible to tell her mood. Though it didn't help that more often than not, he was ignored in favor of Jason. Not that he had expected anything less, of course, though he grew resentful. He also learned that Jason received lessons as the Boy-Who-Lived, and was rather jealous when it was implied that Harry would not be allowed to join in on them.

Finally, the day came when the twins had packed their things and were headed for Platform 9 ¾ to catch the Hogwarts Express. Harry had not been looking forward to trying what he learned was called the Floo Network, but nonetheless he stepped into the fireplace with his trunk and owl, and called "Platform 9 ¾" into the fire, dropping his powder. He came out with his glasses askew and face full of ash. He got up, dusted himself off, and righted his glasses, only to come face to face with Ronald Weasley. They looked at one another for a bit, but Harry then quickly moved away, in search of Ginny. He found her a moment later, and they talked for a bit before he said his goodbyes and boarded the train. On the train, Harry found himself an empty compartment, and sat down, locking the door wandlessly and wordlessly with a spell he had found in his charms book. He pulled out said book and started reading, wondering if his spell would hold. His question was answered soon, when a bushy-haired girl tried to open the compartment but couldn't. She looked inside and saw Harry, and gestured at the door wildly and angrily, but Harry just went back to his book due to her angry look. She pulled out her wand, seeming even more determined to unlock the door. He saw her lips form the incantation _Alohamora_ and saw the spell, and then the girl tried to open the door once more, but it wouldn't budge. The girl stamped her foot, red in the face, and left. After that, no one disturbed him for a while, and he read his book a bit more.

Harry was so immersed in his book that he didn't notice the girl that unlocked the door and came into the compartment until she sat down across from him. She looked strangely similar to his disguised face, except she had blonde hair and cold, blue eyes. Harry thought she looked familiar, but couldn't place where he'd seen her before. He only looked up and raised an eyebrow, once again throwing the locking spell at the door, but this time with words and wand.

"Never seen you around before," the girl said. "Impressive, that you can do that spell already."

"And you are?" Harry asked icily.

"Daphne Greengrass, do you mind if some of my friends come and sit? We can't find a compartment."

"If you can unlock the spell, I can't really stop you. I'm Harry Potter."

"Potter? As in Boy-Who-Lived Potter?" she asked coldly, with a touch of distaste.

"No, as in his dead brother," Harry replied, equally as cold. He recognized her then. She had been at the gala, and he had seen her while he still watched through the window of his bedroom. A few more kids about his age filed in, one with darker skin, defined features, and a slighter build, another boy with brown hair and brown eyes, and a jumpy, hyper looking girl with light brown, almost blonde hair and eyes of almost the same color.

"Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, and Tracey Davis," Daphne indicated at each as they sat down in the compartment.

"Harry Potter," he responded casually. The other three stopped their various actions to look at him, but quickly continued what they were doing.

"Harry? Not Jason Potter? He had a brother?" the dark-skinned one, Zabini, asked.

"Yeah, the Potters tried to keep us hidden, and succeeded, with me," Harry replied. He said nothing more on the topic, not wanting to bring up his aunt and uncle, though he knew the topic of where he had been hung in the air. Instead, he found out that they all were first-years as well, and brought up the houses, a topic that seemed to be of much interest to everyone.

"Slytherin," said Nott, easily. "Blaise here we don't know so much, but Daphne will be Slytherin, too, I wager. How about you?"

"Slytherin or Ravenclaw," Harry replied. "Just not Gryffindor, that's where my brother is going for sure."

"Be careful of Dumbledore," Daphne warned. "He might try to influence something, try to put you in Gryffindor to help out your brother or something like that. My mother said he's much more manipulative than his grandfather act makes him seem."

"Noted," Harry said shortly. He wasn't surprised by this, not in the slightest, but it did not make him feel safer to know that that man was the headmaster of the school. They talked more about trivial things, until the bushy-haired girl from before knocked on the compartment door, looking rather angry that there were now others in the compartment. Harry easily unlocked the door.

"Has anyone seen a toad?" the girl asked. "Neville's lost his. Oh, I'm Hermione by the way, Hermione Granger. Did you just do magic?"

In the compartment, the five looked at each other with amusement. "No, we haven't seen a toad," spoke Daphne for the rest. "And that was an unlocking spell, that's all."

"Oh," Granger said. "I've read about those, like _Alohamora._ " She said it very matter-of-factly, and Harry immediately pegged her as a know-it-all, like many children in his primary school had been.

"Something like that," Harry responded casually. "Is that all?"

"Yes, I suppose," Granger replied, moving to the next compartment to ask about the toad.

Harry locked the door once more, and noted that everyone on the train was already dressed in their Hogwarts robes, and Harry guessed it was because they had all traveled to the platform through magical means. They talked until they had reached Hogwarts, and Harry had decided he liked these four, and had learned much about them. Daphne was very much like him: studious, cold, and quieter than the others. Blaise had a more aristocratic air, but didn't act the part with Theodore around, who was easy to laugh and make others laugh. Tracey was loud and talkative, but not abrasive or overbearing, and Harry had to admit that it was much easier to talk with Tracey around.

"Call me Harry," he said at the end of the train ride, as they'd used nothing but last names. Each of the others stared at him, causing him to grow defensive. "What?" he asked.

"Well, in pureblood society, you don't usually use first names after a few hours of conversation," explained Daphne. "It's a sign of familiarity to do so."

"I would like to be friends with all of you, maybe we can form a study group in school?" Harry asked, seemingly not bothered by this explanation.

"Well, as I'm not pureblood, go right ahead and call me Tracey then, Harry," Tracey laughed and stepped off the train.

"Call me Theo," Theo said. "Never Theodore, or you'll wake up in the lake," he said, pointing at the lake they passed.

"And please, call me Blaise," Blaise added.

Daphne sighed, but reluctantly said, "You can call me Daphne, I guess."

They exited the train, and headed toward the sound of a giant man yelling "firs' years, firs' years over here". Harry saw Jason run over and hug the man, and through his yelling, heard the name Hagrid, and decided this must be the giant. The giant ushered them into boats, four to a boat. Harry got into one with Theo, Blaise, and a boy so blonde his hair might have blinded Harry if he stared too long. He watched in awe as the boats starting pulling themselves, and the castle came into view. It was the most majestic sight Harry had ever seen.

 _A castle?_ Harry wondered incredulously. _The school is in a castle?_

They soon arrived in a grand entrance hall in the castle, where the giant left them to go into a different chamber. Harry didn't know where to look, taking it all in. His thoughts were interrupted by a drawl from the blonde boy who had been in his boat.

"So, is it true then? Jason Potter is at Hogwarts?" he said, facing Jason. Jason seemed to recognize the boy, and turned redder with anger.

"Draco Malfoy, I take it?" he asked.

"Ah, so you've heard of me. Then you'd also know you don't want to be seen with that lot," he added, gesturing at Ronald. "I could help you make the right friends."

"I think I can tell the right sort for myself, thanks, you're just another one of those slimy snakes!"

Harry sighed inwardly. He had heard the phrase "slimy snake" far too often at Potter Manor, and was hoping for a new insult from his brother, but it seemed he lacked the creativity. While he didn't like the drawl of the blonde boy, he had grown to resent his brother, and found him to be arrogant, at best. He was once again interrupted from his thoughts, this time by the appearance of a stern woman with rectangular glasses and emerald robes, her hair in a bun.

"I am Professor McGonagall, teacher of Transfiguration at Hogwarts," she said by way of introduction. "In a moment, you will enter the Great Hall and be sorted into your houses. Your house will be like your family while you are here. The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." Most of the students didn't notice, but Harry didn't miss the well-hidden disdain in her voice on the word "Slytherin," having heard the same disdain from Aunt Petunia many times when talking about him and other distasteful subjects. The first year students entered the hall, looking around wildly. Harry heard the Granger girl spouting off some facts she had read, and reluctantly admitted that it was somewhat interesting. He had not yet had the chance to read _Hogwarts, A History_. They came to a halt in the middle of the hall, staring at a stool with an old, decrepit hat sitting on it, that looked to be far too large for any first year there.

As they stood there, the hat opened its mouth by the brim and started to sing a song describing each of the characteristics of the houses. Harry listened, but was too excited to fully pay attention. The song ended to polite applause, and once it had died down, McGonagall pulled out a scroll.

"Abbott, Hannah!" she called, and a girl walked up to the hat. The girl sat down on the stool, and the hat was placed onto her head.

After a couple seconds, it opened its mouth once more and yelled, "Hufflepuff!"

And so the Sorting continued, with "Boot, Terry" to Ravenclaw, and then with a slew of first years Harry didn't recognize, until "Granger, Hermione" was called to the stool.

 _Ravenclaw_ , he thought with the utmost certainty. And so when the hat took a minute to deliberate, Harry was surprised. He was even more surprised when she was eventually sorted not into Ravenclaw, but Gryffindor. He didn't spend too long thinking about it, however, as Daphne was next. She hopped up to the stool, and after a few seconds, was sorted into Slytherin, as Theo had expected. Harry watched "Malfoy, Draco" sorted almost immediately into Slytherin, and he waited a while more, until he heard the name "Nott, Theodore" called. Theo muttered something, which Harry assumed was a curse against his full name, and walked up to the stool.

The hat did not take long to decide, promptly yelling "Slytherin!" as had been expected by Theo himself. Harry got nervous now, knowing it was almost his turn at the hat. He got more and more nervous as the Sorting went on, and waited anxiously as "Patil, Padma" became a Ravenclaw and "Patil, Parvati" became a Gryffindor, knowing it was almost his turn.

"Potter, Jason!" Professor McGonagall yelled. A sudden quiet fell upon the hall, and then the whispers started. Harry idly wondered why they had broken alphabetical order, but seeing the twinkle in Dumbledore's eye, he decided it had probably been done for maximum dramatic effect.

"The Jason Potter?" Harry heard one boy whisper. He laughed to himself, wondering how much of a stir the Jason Potter's dead brother would cause. Jason strode confidently up to the stool, and almost moments after the hat was put on his head, the hat yelled, "Gryffindor!" Jason stepped down from the stool and walked over to the Gryffindor table, where he sat between the twins Harry recognized as Fred and George, who were busy yelling "We got Potter!" as though it were some kind of surprise.

 _Idiots_ , Harry thought. _Like Dumbledore's golden boy would go anywhere but Gryffindor._

"Potter, Harry!" called Professor McGonagall, and once again, the crowd went silent, and this time, the whispers didn't start. Everyone just looked at one another with curious glances, silently asking if anyone knew this Harry Potter. Harry walked up to the stool in silence, and cautiously put on the hat.

"Another Potter, eh?" asked a voice in his head.

 _The hat_ , Harry realized. _It talks to me._

"Yes, the hat," the hat chuckled. "Usually, I'd put you in Gryffindor, but you don't seem to want that. And you are brave, yes, but far more studious and ambitious than brave. I think we can say no Hufflepuff for you, and no Gryffindor either. So Ravenclaw or Slytherin? Both could make you great..." Here, the hat seemed to await a response, but Harry didn't give one, at least directly. He didn't really care so much where he was sent. "A choice to make for you, then," the hat continued. "Very well, studious you are, but you want to use the knowledge to...oh my...oh, I've only met one other like you in my time, Harry Potter. His name was Tom Riddle, and he went on to become a great sorcerer. Goes by a different name now, from what I've heard. Well, for you, I think you'll do best in SLYTHERIN!"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Yeah, sorry about the whole Ethan/Jason in the last chapter, my find and replace is a bit messed up apparently. I started with the name Ethan when I started writing, and decided I liked the name Jason better.**

 **Magnuss, I won't reveal anything, but I will tell you that I kinda like Ginny, I feel like she gets too much hate. I'm still deciding what to do with her, we'll see in the next chapters.**

 **Thanks for the reviews to the rest of you, it's great to hear feedback! As usual, please comment on what you liked and what you didn't!**

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat thundered the last word, and as Harry took off the hat, the hall was still in complete silence. Harry looked over at Jason, and saw only shock there. He knew why, of course, Potters never went to Slytherin, and as far as he'd been told, there had never been a Slytherin Potter. Occasionally a Hufflepuff, and even rarer, sometimes a Ravenclaw. But never, in the "great history of the Potters," as James had said, had there been a Slytherin. Harry, not being too surprised himself, walked down to the Slytherin table, and sat next to Daphne and across from Theo. McGonagall loudly cleared her throat and called the next name, and the Sorting continued in a much more subdued manner. Harry had stopped paying attention, but was brought back to the ceremony by the loud call of "Weasley, Ronald." He was not at all surprised when he was sorted into Gryffindor as quickly as Draco Malfoy to Slytherin. The Sorting concluded with Blaise joining them at the Slytherin table.

"Before we start our feast, I have a few words," Professor Dumbledore began, "and they are oddment, nitwit, blubber, and tweak. Dig in!"

Food appeared on the tables, and Harry thought he was hallucinating. He had never seen so much food in his life, and took a little bit of everything, being careful not to eat too much. He was, however, determined to eat enough for a change, and he had planned to ask the nurse about nutrition potions as soon as he could. Through bites of his food, Harry listened to the conversation around them, until an older Slytherin with a badge on his chest sat down next to Harry.

"So, Potter, is it?" the Slytherin asked.

"Yes, Harry Potter, and you are?"

"Jonas Rosier, fifth-year Slytherin Prefect." The others had explained the Prefect and point system to Harry before they arrived, for which he was now relieved. "We just wanted to ask a couple questions," Rosier said, gesturing over at the group of older Slytherins with whom he had been sitting.

"Ask away," Harry replied, deciding it would be better to get it over with sooner rather than later.

"So, any relation to the Boy-Who-Lived over there?"

"I'm his brother, but I was presumed dead for ten years, according to my parents."

"A Potter in Slytherin, huh? Word of warning to you, it's not going to be easy, you're going to have to prove yourself quickly, or you'll get a lot of hate from some of the younger years. Seems like you're friendly with these guys though, so that's good. Dead for ten years though? Where were you?" At this, the others leaned in curiously as well, not having heard this part of the tale.

"My maternal aunt's house," Harry replied shortly.

"But...how did you end up there?" Rosier asked. "Someone must have known you were alive."

"That, I can't answer either," Harry responded.

"Well, if you need anything, you can come to the Prefects, that's what we're here for," Rosier said, "and be careful. Slytherin has its own politics and its own conflicts in the house. We'll explain the rules later, but just a heads up."

"Thanks," Harry said, as Rosier stood up and headed back to where his yearmates sat. He immediately turned to Daphne and asked, "Politics?"

"Mhm," Daphne replied shortly. "You'll see groups start to form quickly, no doubt Draco's going to try to grab power quickly. We should probably stop him from doing that."

Harry groaned, not wanting to deal with politics, but realized that it really only came down to power, and that was something he could do. He had learned quickly that for a wizard of only eleven years of age, he could accomplish many incredible feats, and did not wish to reveal all of his talents all at once. Harry figured he might be able to trust the four sitting with him, should they prove trustworthy and not just sitting there for the tale. They had seemed nice enough, Harry reasoned, though he could be wrong.

All in all, the air in the Great Hall was far more subdued than usual. The news of the Slytherin Potter had sent shockwaves through the hall, and as usual, Harry was not surprised. It was only then that he realized he had neglected to pay attention to the professors, and looked up at the table. With a shock, he recognized the red hair and green eyes of his mother, Lily, sitting at the table.

"What's Lily doing here?" he asked the four next to him.

"Muggle Studies professor," Theo said helpfully. "It's an elective course in third year, so you don't have to worry about it, but be careful, she can still take points off and the whole deal."

Harry snorted and looked again, and this time, she was staring intently back at him, studying him almost curiously. He scanned the table a bit further, and found that most of the professors had a funny quirk to them, and asked for each of their names. Professor Flitwick was the diminutive Charms professor, McGonagall the stern Transfiguration mistress, and Trelawney the funny one with the bug-eye glasses. He came to Professor Snape, who was, like his mother, studying him as though he were a particularly fascinating insect. Harry had seen him earlier, glaring with hatred at his brother, and was curious about the man. He had, of course, heard awful things about Snape from James, and was not surprised to find that the hate was mutual. He looked forward to his first Potions class, as he had heard that Snape was very strict, and favored Slytherin due to all the other teachers' bias against the house. Harry looked at the next professor, who wore a turban around his head, and felt a sharp pain in his forehead. Professor Quirrel, he was told, who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts. The man seemed constantly nervous, as though someone were about to come and attack him at any second. His friends, he supposed he'd call them, had noticed his hand reach up to his head, of that Harry was sure, but he was grateful that none of them commented.

After dessert had been served, Dumbledore stood up once more, and gave what Harry assumed were standard warnings at the beginning of every year. The Forbidden Forest was forbidden, no prank items, no pranks, the list went on and on and on. However, Harry's interest was piqued again when Dumbledore seemed to say something new.

"This year the third floor corridor will be out-of-bounds for all students," Dumbledore said. "Any student seen in the area will face strict repercussions if they have not died a miserable death."

Harry scoffed. _That's just stupid_ , Harry thought. _Go tell a school full of teenagers not to go somewhere unless they want to die, just to make them curious. Not to mention we have a whole house full of people who pursue knowledge..._

Indeed, many in the hall, particularly the Ravenclaw students, seemed to have perked up at this, like they had to immediately go investigate this new forbidden area. Dumbledore dismissed the hall, and Harry followed Jonas Rosier out of the hall, who was calling for the Slytherin first-years to follow him. Rosier easily walked through the halls, guiding them down multiple staircases, until they reached a vast expanse of wall in the dungeon.

"The entrance to our common room is right here," Rosier explained, pointing at a darker patch in the wall that was not noticeable unless you were looking for it. "The password is _pureblood_ , right now, but it'll change a couple times in the year, or if we think someone from another house got the password without our knowledge."

Rosier stepped into the well-lit common room, and all of the first-years followed. Harry looked around, deciding it was a very bright room for being so far underground.

"Right," Rosier said. "We only have a few rules here, so pay attention." All of the first years looked up at him expectantly. "Don't fight with other Slytherins outside of the common room, we are picked on by pretty much everyone else here, and we need to look united. If you've got a problem with someone here, or you need to settle an argument, do it in here. There's a few places for dueling just around there." Rosier pointed around a corner, toward where the first-years could see the beginning of a lawn. "If you want to bring people from other houses in here, we don't really care, we're actually the only house that doesn't care, but make sure you can trust them first, and clear it with us before you drag them in here. Don't be stupid, you're in this house for a reason. Lastly for now, the dorms are up to you to decide, we've got plenty empty ones here, but whoever you choose, you'll likely be with them for seven years, so choose well."

With that, Rosier left them to choose their dorms, and they all scrambled to get what they thought was a good location. Harry's group of five found two dorms opposite one another, and Daphne and Tracey immediately claimed one, sending the boys into the other. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle found another dorm elsewhere, as did two girls Harry remembered were called Parkinson and Bulstrode.

Harry claimed the bed closest to the door, as he preferred quick escapes to the defense position granted by the bed farthest from the door, which was claimed by Blaise. Each of them found their belongings in the middle of the room after they had claimed the room, which they then dragged to their respective beds. Each of them found quickly that they were rather tired, and promptly fell asleep. However, before falling asleep, Harry quickly cast some basic wards and spells he had read in a book on personal safety. People never earned his complete trust in a day, and Harry was not going to take any chances. Behind his wards, he also quickly fell asleep.

Harry woke early the next day, as he always did, and got himself ready for the day before his classmates were even awake. Having his own clothes was still a rather foreign concept to Harry, as he had never dared to believe that he could have his own clothes. Harry then realized that the next summer he went to Privet Drive, he could threaten his relatives with magic instead, and get whatever he wanted out of them. He was learning magic quickly, and one day, he decided, he would have to make good on those threats. Then, he realized, he might have to stay with his other relatives, his parents and brother. He wasn't sure which he was more disgusted by, and decided to see how it would play out. That was, after all, still more than half a year in the future.

Harry opened his schoolbooks, deciding to read ahead, and waited for his classmates. Eventually, they woke up and got themselves ready as well, commenting on Harry being up early. Harry merely shrugged this away, and once they were ready, the boys headed to the Great Hall for breakfast together. They met Daphne and Tracey there, who teased them all about being late.

"Hey, I was up early," Harry defended, "but these two here woke up fifteen minutes ago."

"That explains why they look like zombies," Tracey said, oddly happy about this fact. "Daphne and I got up early so we would be here on time and awake."

Just as Harry was about to take a bite of his toast, Professor Snape came by and handed him a piece of parchment, which he then read. His schedule was written in careful writing on the parchment, and he groaned after reading through all of it. Almost every one of his classes was with Gryffindor, and that meant he'd share classes with Jason. After breakfast, Harry and the other Slytherins headed to the Charms classroom, where Professor Flitwick introduced himself, and had them working on wand movements. Every class that came after that followed a similar pattern, and Harry had soon decided that he liked most of the subjects well enough. This soon changed when he had History of Magic. Harry prided himself on his ability to pay attention in class, so he was very surprised when he found himself waking up at the end of the lesson. He just couldn't pay attention to Professor Binns, the old ghost who probably didn't even know he was dead. There hadn't been an introduction or anything, Binns had simply launched into the first discussion of the Goblin Wars. Harry decided he would have to research the subject on his own, and wondered if Binns would notice an absent student. In addition, he found Astronomy to be terribly boring, but otherwise enjoyed his classes.

Finally, Harry and his classmates stood outside the Potions classroom in the dungeons. Harry was very excited, as he had been looking forward to this all week. For once, he was not disappointed to have class with the Gryffindors, as he had heard Snape was especially harsh on them. Harry smirked to himself, as Jason had been favored all week. In almost every class, Harry could see that in one way or another, the teacher was biased against Slytherin. The only exception, besides Professor Snape himself, appeared to be Professor Flitwick, who seemed impartial. However, most lessons were especially annoying because of the fact that almost every teacher marveled at Jason's supposed magical prowess, even though the first to manage the spells was almost always Daphne, as Harry hid his abilities. Harry had performed most of these spells already, but was not about to reveal this to the others. Hermione Granger, rather surprisingly, also managed to perform spells rather quickly. Harry quickly found that while Ravenclaws valued knowledge, that didn't always translate to ability. They knew how to perform the spells, but were scarcely the first to be able to perform them.

The door opened, and admitted the students into the room. Harry quickly found a spot next to Daphne, who he found to be the brightest and most skilled among the group. Theo and Blaise paired up, and Tracey sat down next to Hermione, which, surprisingly, Hermione seemed fine with. Harry listened intently as Snape began talking after he dramatically strode in, cape billowing behind him. Nothing from his introduction was new to Harry, in fact, it was almost word for word from an introductory potions textbook he had found in Flourish and Blotts, which no one else seemed to notice. Snape began to call names from the list, and did not hesitate when he reached "Potter, Harry". However, he sneered when he reached the next name.

"Ah, yes," Snape drawled. "Jason Potter, our newest celebrity...tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Hermione's hand shot in the air, but still Snape did not call on her, and the room was deathly silent.

"I don't know," Jason responded.

"I don't know, sir," Snape corrected. "Try again, Potter, where would I find a bezoar?"

"In your potions store, sir," Jason responded snidely.

"Five points from Gryffindor for disrespect," Snape responded. "What is the difference between wolfsbane and monkshood?"

"I don't know, sir, but Hermione seems to know, why don't you ask her?" Jason burst out angrily.

"Clearly fame isn't everything, Potter. Another five points from Gryffindor for more disrespect, and ten points from Gryffindor for not reading ahead. Mr. Potter, the Slytherin one, can you answer the questions?"

"Asphodel and wormwood make the Draught of Living Death, a bezoar is found in the stomach of a goat, and there is no difference, it is also known as aconite," Harry answered quietly.

Snape looked briefly surprised, but it hid it quickly. "Fifteen points to Slytherin. Today's potion is on the board, please read the instructions carefully, gather your ingredients, and begin. You and your partner need only submit one potion."

Harry was disappointed that Snape did not give any further instruction or lesson regarding the potion, but quickly took out his cauldron and scales, while Daphne gathered the ingredients. He found that he was quite skilled at brewing potions. It was very much like following a recipe, which he had had to do often for Aunt Petunia when she ordered him to make dishes he had never made before. Harry decided that when the threat of being beaten was not imminent, he actually enjoyed it. He especially enjoyed the look on Snape's face when he submitted a perfect potion, a feat unheard of on the first day since Severus Snape himself accomplished it in his first lesson of first year. The Slytherins walked a short distance back to their common room, chatting about classes all the way.

"Did you see Hermione?" Tracey asked. "She looked absolutely livid when Snape praised your potion like it was the second coming of Merlin and she got nothing."

"Yeah," Daphne said. "I saw that. You are strangely good at Potions for never having done it before though, Harry."

Harry just shrugged, he had learned the theory behind many of the ingredients, combinations, and methods of preparation before entering class, and had simply applied them. Professor Snape had had them brewing basically the simplest potion imaginable, fit for the first day, so it hadn't been that hard. Harry doubted he could recreate the results in future lessons with more difficult and complicated potions, but he would enjoy the fame for now.

The five friends made their way to the Great Hall, using a passage revealed to them by upper year Slytherins, and enjoyed the surprised look on Jason's face when he realized they had been sitting in the Great Hall for some time when he entered with his posse. While Jason had many admirers, many fangirls, and many people attempting to form political alliances or gain his wealth, he was closest to Ron Weasley and another Gryffindor Harry remembered was named Dean Thomas. The three were known as the "Golden Trio", that being said affectionately by the Gryffindors and most Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, but rather distastefully and mockingly by the Slytherins.

That night, Harry sat in the common room with his friends, chatting and completing their newfound load of homework. He had, in the last week, decided he could at least call them friends, and had relaxed somewhat around them, though he was still very reserved, a fact they had noticed.

"Harry," Daphne started quietly, "you're always so quiet, and you always look so paranoid."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"You're overly cautious, even for the House of Snakes," she said. Though Daphne was doing the talking, Harry knew she was speaking for the group, and they were all listening intently.

"My childhood was...less than ideal," he replied, not wanting to reveal more. Harry chastised himself, as he found himself wanting to tell them of the horrors and atrocities of his childhood. He hated keeping it to himself, allowing the thoughts to fester and to corrupt him. But Harry knew he was too far gone, and he found that he didn't mind the fact. The five stood up, heading to their dorms, but Harry was surprised when Daphne and Tracey followed the boys into their room. Tracey simply looked at him questioningly, and Harry knew what they wanted. So Harry, though he wasn't sure why, told them everything, showed them the scars, all the while with tears in his eyes. He refused to cry in front of them, but that didn't stop the tears from forming as he talked about his lost childhood. When he had finished, he saw that Daphne, whose demeanor was usually calm and controlled, looked shaken, also with tears in her eyes. Tracey was crying, as was Blaise, though he would never admit it, and Theo just looked shocked.

"I'll kill them," Theo was the first to speak.

"Get in line," Harry laughed.

"Hold on a minute," Daphne said. She left the room and crossed the hall, and came back with a book in her hand. The other three looked at her in surprise. "This book is a book full of spells that the ministry doesn't want you to know," she began. "The three of us are versed in the easier, less damaging spells, and we'd like to teach you, or at least give you the book so you can learn."

Harry read the cover. _The Dark Arts, Level 1_ , it read, and Harry figured its author must have a sense of humor, if he was naming contraband books regarding illegal magic after charms textbooks.

"Thank you," Harry said, his voice full of emotion.

"Harry, we'll be your family," Tracey said. "And you're always welcome at my house, I'm sure my parents would be happy to have you."

Harry looked around at them, and saw that they meant it, and that was what broke him. The tears started falling freely from his eyes, and he went and hugged each of them, an act he had never initiated before. Harry picked up the book with a determined look in his eyes. They talked a while longer, and soon, the girls left to sleep.

That night, Harry did not cast any charms around his bed.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Truthandreality23, I do plan to have a pairing eventually, but I'm not sure yet what it'll be, and it definitely won't be until quite a bit later, maybe fourth year or so, I haven't really decided yet.**

 **Thank you to everyone else who reviewed, here's another chapter, please leave your thoughts! As usual, tell me what you liked, what you didn't, and anything in between!**

The next morning in the common room, Harry came face to face with Draco Malfoy. He had been avoiding the blonde, finding him a bother and a pest. However, he realized that as Malfoy was the head of the other Slytherin first-year group, Harry's group would come face to face with him sooner rather than later. What surprised Harry was that Malfoy approached him, as it meant that Malfoy recognized Harry as the leader of the other portion of the Slytherin first-years.

"Potter, let me make something clear," Malfoy began pompously.  
"I'm listening," Harry replied, bored.

"I'm the leader here, and a half-blood can't do anything about it."

"Alright, I'll go get Daphne or Theo or Blaise. But they won't be happy about being woken up," Harry replied. Malfoy looked confused.

"You're leader, aren't you?" Malfoy asked.

"We don't really have a leader," Harry replied idly.

"See? As a Malfoy, it is my right to lead Slytherin."

"Okay, well, you're still going to have to duel me for it."

"Right now?" Malfoy asked.

"Nah, when more people can see, let's say...right after supper?" Harry returned confidently.

"Deal, bring your second," Malfoy replied just as confidently.

When Harry's friends came out of their dorms, he told them of the impending duel.

"That puffed up peacock?" Blaise asked incredulously. "If you don't beat him, I'll challenge him myself. Who's your second?"

"Theo's best at dueling," Daphne said. "So it should be him, Harry."

"Alright, Theo?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, sure, you'll beat him anyway, and his second will probably be Parkinson or Crabbe, and they're about as good at dueling as Ron Weasley."

The five laughed, and entered the Great Hall confidently. Harry sat down, and was surprised to find an owl flying towards him. The owl dropped a letter, as it often had for many of his classmates, and flew off. Harry had been secretly jealous, as Jason received letters daily from their father, and their mother often spoke with him between classes. The letter, however, was not from his parents, but from Ginny Weasley.

 _Dear Harry,_

 _You probably weren't expecting a letter from me, but I heard my parents yelling the other day. My mum was asking how it was possible for a Potter to be so evil, and I found out you're in Slytherin. I just wanted to say that I still think you're nice and not evil, and that I still want to see you in the summer. Anyway, how is Hogwarts? I'm very jealous, but I get to go next year, so at least that's nice. Did you hear? Someone broke into Gringotts...you've probably seen it in the paper by now, but I thought I'd ask if you knew anything else. Well, I guess that's it for now, but if you want to talk, I'm here, Harry._

 _Ginny_

Harry smiled, and grabbed some parchment and penned a reply, deciding to send it off later with Hestia.

"Who's it from?" Blaise asked.

"Ginny Weasley," Harry replied. "I spent some time with her over the summer, and she just wanted to say she doesn't think I'm evil. Did you know someone broke into Gringotts?"

Daphne was suddenly overcome by a fit of most unladylike giggles, and Tracey rolled her eyes.

"I heard about it, but apparently, nothing was stolen, the vault was emptied the same day," said Theo. "What's her problem?" he gestured at Daphne.

"Harry...has...an admirer..." Daphne said between giggles.

"She's not an admirer, just a friend!" cried Harry defensively. "You're a girl and my friend, but you aren't an admirer." That shut Daphne up quickly, and she blushed a bright red at the thought.

That day was the first flying lesson of the year, and so Harry and his friends walked out to the Quidditch pitch. Official school brooms had been laid out on the ground. Madam Hooch, who was also the referee for Quidditch matches at Hogwarts, waited for them there. The five waited as everyone joined them, this being a flying lesson for all first-years. Harry had to admit, he had enjoyed flying on occasion at Potter Manor, and was looking forward to the flying lesson. As Draco Malfoy approached, he heard him complaining loudly about the school brooms and their quality, of course stating that his father would hear about it. Harry found it funny, but he and the other four laughed themselves hoarse when Jason Potter came out and said an almost identical sentence.

 _No matter what house, a spoiled brat is a spoiled brat,_ Harry thought. Draco and Jason weren't the only ones he'd seen either. He was honestly surprised there wasn't another house for spoiled gits, as he liked to call them.

"Now," Madam Hooch said. "Stand to the right of your broom, hold your left hand out, over the broom, and say 'up!'"

Harry heard a chorus of "up" from the students, and laughed silently, the broom smacking his palm without him having said anything. After a minute, Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom, a Hufflepuff, were the only two who still had no success, a fact that seemed to irritate Hermione to no end. Eventually, both of them managed with some help, and Madam Hooch nodded.

"Now mount your broom, and on my whistle, hover slightly above the ground," Madam Hooch ordered. However, before she could say more, Longbottom had left the ground, and flew much higher than slightly above the ground. Harry waited, and sure enough, Longbottom fell a few seconds later, breaking only his wrist.

"Come, I'll bring you to the Hospital Wing, stupid, stupid boy," she said. "And if any of you so much as mount your broom, you'll be expelled faster than you can say Quidditch."

As soon as she was out of earshot, Malfoy walked to where Longbottom had fallen, and picked up a clear ball.

"Longbottom dropped something!" Malfoy shouted gleefully. Harry wasn't sure what he was expecting, but no one reacted. "I'm going to put it in the tree," he said.

"There's no reason to do that," a Hufflepuff girl, Hannah Abbott, Harry thought, said. Silently, Harry agreed. He might have been considered somewhat evil by many, but he hated bullies more than anything else. Malfoy, however, disagreed, and flew up into the air.

"Come and get it then," he taunted. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Madam Hooch coming back, and silently summoned the ball away from Malfoy. To everyone else, it simply looked like Malfoy had dropped or thrown it right at Harry. Just as Madam Hooch arrived, Harry caught the ball right in front of his face. This turned out to be a good thing, as Madam Hooch, thoroughly impressed with the catch due to the speed of the ball, convinced Professor Dumbledore to allow an exception to the Quidditch rule for Harry. The exception, however, only allowed him to try out for the team, and if he made it, then he could continue playing. Harry watched Jason's face the whole time, savoring the look of extreme jealousy on his face. He later heard Jason complaining loudly in the hallways to his friends and other Gryffindors, who enthusiastically nodded and complained as well.

That was how Harry found himself on Jonas Rosier's Comet 260 a week later. The tryouts went smoothly enough, he thought, with Harry catching more Snitches than any other Seeker aspirant in the given time, even though some even had Nimbus 2000s, the newest racing broom. Harry was unanimously proclaimed the new Slytherin Seeker, and was promptly given a green Quidditch jersey with silver lettering and numbering, with the name "H. Potter" over the traditional Seeker number 7. Harry walked into the common room triumphantly, holding up his jersey for his friends to see. They congratulated him, laughing and cheering. However, Harry quickly became solemn.

"How am I going to play Seeker if I don't even have a broom?" he wondered. His question was quickly answered when Jonas Rosier came over.

"Hey, so I heard you have a little duel with Malfoy later over the leadership," Rosier said. "None of us want the spoiled little peacock as your leader and later leader of Slytherin, so do us a favor and beat him, will you? If you do, I'll give you the broom you used today, I'm getting a newer one anyway."

Harry was now even more determined to beat Malfoy. He wasn't sure why Rosier had offered the broom as well, but Harry figured it was most likely so it wouldn't look like a gift out of the nothing. As much as he tried to hide it, Rosier wanted Slytherin to win the Quidditch Cup just as badly as the rest of Slytherin. Even if Slytherin wasn't always united in the common room, everyone put their differences aside to cheer on the Quidditch team. The players had the highest respect of the house, even if they weren't their year leaders, as Slytherin had not lost the Quidditch Cup for seven years.

Anticipation grew in Slytherin as the evening approached. At this point, everyone had heard that Harry Potter was to duel Draco Malfoy for the first year leadership. A betting pool had naturally already formed, and currently, the odds were heavily on Malfoy's side, as most believed that Harry had no experience with magic until Hogwarts. Most of the first-years, however, had their bets on Harry. The Slytherins were rather upset as a House, as none really wanted Malfoy to be the Slytherin leader in a few years. However, the odds had not been wrong in a duel for at least fifty years. The last Slytherin to upset an established pureblood leader had been a young boy by the name of Tom Riddle. The other houses could feel the tension in the air at Slytherin House that evening, but no one suspected it was due to one of the most anticipated battles of the house. After eating a light dinner, Harry stood up and left, to the cheers of much of Slytherin. The other houses looked over, confused, but one Severus Snape seemed to know exactly what was going on. Many of the older years had by now figured out about the duel, as something similar happened early on in just about every year. As Draco Malfoy stood, he expected louder cheers than those for Harry, but the applause was few and far between, and he heard more than a few jeers. Surprised, his step faltered as he walked to the common room.

Slowly, the rest of Slytherin hall trickled out as they finished their dinners, and headed to the common room. Half an hour later, Harry stood with Theo across from Malfoy and Crabbe, his second, on the dueling green. The Slytherins who were in the common room had gathered around the magical shield surrounding them to watch. Exactly five minutes later, Jonas Rosier began the countdown as Malfoy and Harry paced away from one another.

As soon as he finished his counting, Harry launched into action, whispering " _Rictusempra_ ," and making the appropriate wand motion. Malfoy dodged, and threw a red colored spell at him, which Harry easily dodged. Harry smiled, and threw three spells in a row at Malfoy. Malfoy dodged the tripping jinx and the tickling spell, but flew right into the path of Harry's final spell, a stunner. Malfoy fell on the ground, and Harry leisurely walked over and picked Malfoy's wand out of his hand, declaring the duel over. Slytherin House looked on in shock. Not only had Harry Potter beat the odds, but he had done it in one of the shortest duels ever. Harry bowed to the applause, revived Malfoy, and tossed him his wand. Malfoy angrily stomped out to his dorms, muttering something that Harry assumed was about his father. The crowd dispersed soon after, and Harry was now the official leader of the first-year Slytherins.

The next day, a great cheer rose from the Slytherin table as Harry entered the hall, and all the older students knew who had won, though most were rather shocked. Harry saw Jason talking with Fred and George Weasley, though they also seemed just as confused as Jason. Jason promptly stood up and walked over to Harry.

"Why are they applauding?" Jason asked without preamble.

"Dunno," Harry replied. "Guess I'm just that great."

"Don't give me that, why are you so popular all of a sudden?" Jason asked angrily.

"That would be none of your business," Harry said coldly. "I'm trying to eat my breakfast here."

"Fine, don't tell me, I'm only your brother," Jason said.

"Yeah, yeah, now you're my brother, sure," Harry said, deadly calm. "Now get out."

"You can't tell me what to do, I'm the Boy-Who-Lived," Jason said angrily.

"Excuse me, Mr. Potter, please go back to your table, as you seem unwanted here. Five points from Gryffindor," Snape said smoothly. Harry had not even noticed Professor Snape come up behind them, and laughed when Jason looked as though he might protest, but headed back to his table reluctantly. Harry saw him start whispering with the Weasley twins again, and vowed to watch for pranks, and warned his friends as well. Sure enough, later that day, as they were headed down to the dungeons, Harry spotted something looking strangely like a rocket sticking out from behind a wall.

"Stop," he muttered quietly to the other four. He pointed his wand at the rocket, the others wondering what he was doing. " _Reducto_ ," Harry muttered. The rocket exploded, fireworks going off in the hallway in front of them, with spells ricocheting off the walls in between the fireworks. Harry had stopped his friends in time, and no one was affected. Harry had to admit, he was mildly impressed. The fireworks would easily cover the spell fire if anyone stepped into the trap. Looking around at the hallway, he saw that it had been turned red and gold where the spells had hit.

"You're going to have to do better than that, Jason!" he called mockingly as he strode through the hallway. The Weasley twins, who had been watching this, cackled, impressed with Harry, and strode out from around the corner.

"How did you know it was there?" Fred asked.

"I could see the rocket looking thing," Harry responded easily. "Do you two have any other pranks up your sleeve, or do you always use that one?"

"Well, we have a whole line of products we want to market that we've been developing this year, but they're not that great yet, we just don't have the money for what we need," George said.

 _Developing spells at third year?_ Harry thought incredulously. _These two must have some talent._

"Tell you what," Harry began, "show me some of these products and spells, and if I think it's worth it, I'll give you money to develop your products, and in exchange, us five are granted immunity from your pranks."

The Weasley twins looked at one another, and did not hesitate a moment longer before simultaneously saying, "Deal."

The hallway was rather empty, so the Weasley twins showed them some functional spells, and told them of their experiments with potions and other magics. Harry was very impressed, but did not show it, and went through on his deal, bargaining to ten galleons a month in exchange for immunity and a prank on Jason. After all, the money wasn't even his, it belonged to the Potters, so he felt no remorse in spending it on the Weasley twins.

That day, the class ranking for each year was to be put up on the board in the common room. Harry didn't really care much, but what he found interesting was that the ranks updated automatically throughout the year. He thought this was a bit too much, as it made the school very competitive, but decided that that was probably the point. As the five Slytherins entered the common room, they headed to the board to check their ranks. Harry was surprised to find that he had taken the top spot in the year away from Daphne, who was second. Hermione Granger was third, something she would not be happy about, Harry knew. He scanned the list for more familiar names, and found that Theo was sixth, Blaise tenth, and Tracey fifteenth. He found Jason Potter at fourteenth, which surprised him, and Ron Weasley at thirty-first out of the forty first-years. Harry scanned the ranks of the other years, and was not surprised to find that a Slytherin ranked first in almost all years. Notable exceptions included fourth year Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor third year Fred Weasley, both of whom topped their classes. Fred and George, who was currently fourth in his year, especially seemed to have caused an upset. Harry overheard a Slytherin third year saying that they had placed lower than thirtieth for the last two years running, a fact that surprised Harry.

As expected, Granger seemed to put new vigor into her studies, determined to top Daphne and Harry in the rankings, and she came to class more exhausted each day than the last. Granger did not seem to understand that this did more to hurt than help, and Harry pitied the girl. She was a bit too much of a know-it-all for her own good, and was often teased for it. A week later, while Harry was studying in the library with Daphne and Theo, Hermione came over to them.

"How do you do it?" she demanded. "How do you stay in first and second without studying any more? I just don't get it."

Daphne and Theo looked as though they wanted to send the girl away, but Harry pointed to the empty seat across from him.

"First of all, stop studying so much, you're barely sleeping," Harry said. "You were doing well before, you're just going about the magic the wrong way. It's not all rote memorization, you have to feel the spells, too. That, and intent, you really have to want to do them. Here, why don't you study with us."

Hermione accepted, if only to see how they did it, but she and Harry soon became friends, with the others a little more wary but slowly warming up to her as well. They slowly taught her about pureblood customs and calmly told her what she could do to stop coming across as a know-it-all. The change was very visible, as even within Gryffindor, the girls started talking to Hermione, and she became something of a teacher to the other Gryffindor girls, tutoring them where they needed help, all without coming across as a know-it-all. Most of the time, anyway. The only thing the Gryffindors, particularly the Golden Trio, did not like, was her association with the five Slytherins. However, Hermione found them to be better friends than the Gryffindors had ever been, and she told them so, which caused an angry rant from Ron that she promptly ignored. The next day, no one could explain to the trio why their hair was irreversibly green and silver, and why they could only say "Slytherin is my favorite house".


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews again everyone! Yeah, I realize I made Harry a bit too powerful already, and he only gets more op in this chapter...I've sketched out a few more sinister reasons for it, but that won't come until later**

 **Magnusss, I assume you're referring to Hermione and Ginny...I feel like there's no way to exclude Hermione here. I don't particularly like her either, but Harry's character forces him to show some sort of compassion for people getting bullied. As for Ginny, I have no clue what I'm doing there yet, she doesn't really become important until second year anyway, so I'm leaving it open.**

 **Smutley Do-Wrong, thanks for the input, I hadn't thought about a lot of that. I do have a rough idea re: wandless Harry that I don't think I've read before, but that won't show its face until much later, as is the case with how he got to #4. He'll do some 'sherlocking', sure, and I might try to drop a few hints, I don't know yet really.**

 **Anyway, enjoy the chapter and leave a review with your thoughts!**

Harry soon found that his classes and daily routine became normal, and was ecstatic when nothing changed from day to day. In his primary school, he had always been waiting for the day's torture, never sure when it might strike. Now, Harry was the one in power and he relished in the feeling of it. He hated himself for it at first, but as he quickly got used to it, he vowed only to use his newfound power to prevent bullying or for retribution against bullies. Harry hated to admit it to himself, but he loved the power that came with his position, not to mention the basic Dark Arts that his friends slowly taught him. They insisted it was only classified Dark because it was mostly used with nefarious intentions, but Harry knew better. Whenever he used the magic, he had to want it, and it gave him a surge up his arm and a thrill. It made him powerful, and he knew that that kind of power was rightfully banned, though it did not stop him from learning it.

Surprisingly, Ginny had sent him a letter back, and the two of them had kept up their correspondence. Harry found that he greatly enjoyed their letters, despite his hatred for Ronald and the Weasley parents. Admittedly, he found the pranks of the Weasley twins sickening as well, but had no regrets about their deal. He was glad for the amnesty that it had provided him and his friends, though the prank on Jason had yet to happen. Harry also knew that if the Weasley products eventually sold their products as they hoped, his cut would be quite a substantial amount of money, and he would make deals with almost anyone, no matter how distasteful he found them, if he got the sort of things the Weasley twins had unwittingly given him in return.

Classes continued as they had, and nothing eventful happened, at least not that Harry thought was eventful. He continued to be first in the class, to the frustration of Daphne and Hermione, who, despite their best efforts, was once again being shunned by Gryffindor. The topic of discussion among the first-years was the upcoming Halloween feast, which seemed to be a highlight of the year. Harry heard two Hufflepuffs animatedly discussing the live vampires that would be present. Such rumors flew everywhere, but Harry doubted it would be anything that extravagant.

Harry and his friends had found a spell in their book to amplify one's hearing or vision for a short period of time, and it had proved difficult. None of them had managed it yet, and they had even gotten Hermione to try by neglecting to tell her it was Dark. They had, of course, told her to keep it in confidence, and she had stayed true to her promise. After all, Gryffindors were supposed to have some honor, though the current first-years could have had Harry fooled.

The day arrived, and on Halloween, Harry felt quite nauseous.

 _The day I was abandoned_ , Harry thought. _Oh, my mistake, the day I vanished._

When the feast came around, Harry waved his friends ahead, and he put on a fake smile, saying he'd be there for dessert. As he seemed happy enough, his friends headed to the feast, chattering happily. Once everyone was gone, Harry headed out and simply wandered around the castle. He didn't really know where he was going, and decided to go to the parts of the castle he hadn't explored yet. Harry didn't have classes in some parts of the castle, and decided to head there. He was hardly noticed, and when he heard something, he hid. Harry had plenty of practice at sneaking around undiscovered, and it was only made easier by the fact that wizards wouldn't look for a boy. They would look for spells or magic instead, and Harry wasn't using either. However, when he came to the first-floor corridor where he knew the Muggle Studies classroom was, he heard a sound that sounded...different. Crying, Harry realized. Someone was crying, and there were hushed whispers to go along with it. Harry's curiosity was immediately piqued. He recognized the slightly louder voice as James Potter, and figured the crying one was Lily, though he could not hear what was being said.

 _Here goes nothing_ , Harry thought. He waved his wand and whispered the incantation, focusing on his desire to hear the conversation. He had seen his mother, and Harry didn't think she had shed a tear in her life, so to find her crying on the very night he had vanished was quite curious to him. Suddenly, he heard everything as though he were standing right next to them.

"You-Know-Who...he'll come back, James, he's going to try to kill Jason!" Lily said between sobs.

"He can't now, Lily, he's far away from here," James said.

"And my other a son...a snake!" Lily sobbed.

"He can't do anything to Jason either, it's impossible" James consoled.

Harry felt his blood heat with anger. Maybe he'd have to prove them wrong somehow, and plans started forming in his head as he walked away, the spell wearing off. As he thought, Harry got angrier and angrier, until he found himself running nowhere in particular. He just ran and ran and ran. That is, until he smelled it. Harry hadn't smelled anything so awful in his life. Even Dudley after a "workout" didn't smell this bad, and that was saying something. Harry looked around, nervous, to see where he was. All he saw was a girls' bathroom nearby, but he knew roughly where he was. Harry turned around just in time to see something huge lumbering behind him. He ran into the bathroom, praying it wouldn't come near him. As usual, Harry wasn't a very lucky individual, or maybe the gods just had it out for him, he figured it was the same thing. The thing bashed in the door, lumbering inside the bathroom. Harry got a good glimpse of it in the light for the first time, and almost gasped. It was a troll, and this troll was much, much larger than Uncle Vernon. It wouldn't fall because of a simple trip jinx.

Harry was not deterred. After he had swiftly finished the book his friends had given him, Harry had progressed through different textbooks on the Dark Arts and other restricted texts, and he had found a spell that was perfectly suited to a situation like this. The only problem was that Harry had never tried it before, and the troll was swinging its club wildly, it would certainly hit him if he were to be noticed by the troll. He only had one shot, but he figured the spell had to work. After all, it could punch through magical shields and armor like they were nothing, and troll skin really wasn't anything but magical armor. The troll's club swung around again and hit a sink, the debris flying everywhere. A particularly large piece almost hit Harry's hand, but he smoothly dodged it. The problem there being that in the process, he had thrown his wand to the ground, closer to the troll.

Harry had often performed wandless magic as a child on purpose, but he had never tried a spell of this magnitude without a wand. Sure, he had tried a couple Dark spells without his wand, but they had all been minor. In the end, Harry knew, it had all come down to intent, so if he really wanted to get out alive, which he would prefer, he decided, it would work.

So that he would not to be noticed, Harry said the incantation mentally, and held out his hands willing the effects of the spell to work. Harry imagined the troll falling to the floor, so it couldn't bother him. Imagined its lifeless eyes...

 _Too far_ , Harry thought to himself. But along with that thought and the troll's club flying everywhere, memories came rushing back to Harry. A fist knocking him to the ground. A belt hitting his back. Anger flooded Harry, and a bright beam of light shot out of his hands, and the troll starting falling to the floor as he had imagined. Harry scurried out of the way, grabbed his wand, and shot past the troll and out of the door before it hit the ground. He heard shoes running swiftly towards the bathroom, and he quickly hid himself. The professors past him without a second glance at the closet he'd himself in, and entered the bathroom. For the second time that night, Harry dared to use the spell to extend his hearing, hoping the professors would be too caught up with the troll to notice the intrusion.

"Who could have done this?" he heard McGonagall say.

"We must watch the students a bit closer," Sprout said.

"Surely, a student could not have done this," Snape said.

"A seventh-year, perhaps, but I agree with Severus," Dumbledore added.

"Well, it's just knocked out, surely fifth and sixth years can do that," McGonagall said, glaring at Snape almost accusingly. Harry couldn't see the glare, but could certainly hear the pointed comment and was certain of the implications.

"Minerva, I'm afraid you are mistaken," Dumbledore said. "I assure you, the troll is quite dead."

Some of the professors gasped, and one said, "We must find the culprit immediately. They are almost certainly a threat to the school."

Another professor added, "There's not a mark on the troll at all, it looks almost like..." The professor trailed off there, but all the others knew what the first had meant.

"I agree," Dumbledore said. "I will inspect it for magical signatures, the rest of you, please go sleep for the night."

Harry stayed quiet as everyone left, and swore he heard Lily say to James quietly, "See, I told you Jason wasn't safe."

After everyone left, Harry quietly sneaked back to the Slytherin common room, and waited inside, wondering where everyone else had gone. Surely the feast was over by then. Harry thought about what he had learned. Nothing, he decided. He hadn't wanted to kill the troll, but he had deemed it necessary. It was the only spell that would get to it, the only spell to freeze the club long enough for him to make its escape.

 _Avada Kedavra_.

Those were the two words he'd said in his head, the words he'd used to defeat the troll. The Killing Curse. But why was the green light so familiar? Harry couldn't place it, and knew that somewhere along the line, he had seen the light before. He just didn't know where.

Harry was interrupted from his thoughts as Slytherin House filed in. Most of the students had known that Harry would be in the common room, and had told Professor Snape, who had ensured them that the common rooms were very secure from unintelligent creatures such as trolls. His friends ran over to him excitedly, and Harry curiously asked them to tell all about what happened. It turned out that Professor Quirrell had come into the hall yelling about a troll in the dungeons, and all of the students except the Slytherins had been immediately dismissed to their common rooms. Then most of the professors had run to the dungeons, and had recently returned to the Great Hall to tell the Slytherins that it was safe to return.

"That makes no sense at all," Harry said, laughing at the absurdity. "Is Quirrell just an idiot?"

The others looked confused, and Harry said, "I mean, why was Quirrell in the dungeons? Everyone knows he doesn't like Professor Snape, and no one goes to the dungeons for a walk. Quirrell wasn't even a Slytherin in his Hogwarts days, he was a Ravenclaw, so it's not like he was nostalgic or anything."

"So...either he knew the troll was there already or he wasn't in the dungeons," Blaise said.

"Exactly," Harry replied. "And I happen to know the troll wasn't in the dungeons, it was on the first floor, and the troll wouldn't be intelligent enough to climb that many stairs without dying."

"How do you know it was on the first floor?" Daphne asked.

Harry looked around pointedly and said, "I went for a stroll, but ran away when the smell got too bad. But anyway, that means Quirrell also knew it wasn't in the dungeons, so I suspect he said the dungeons to get the professors away from somewhere else."

"Oh, well that's just too easy," Theo replied. "The third-floor corridor that's banned. It's on the other side of the school, it's the only place he wouldn't be allowed as a professor."

"So we just have to go and find what's there," Harry grinned maniacally. "We'll go in a couple days after classes, but there shouldn't be too many of us."

"Alright," Tracey spoke up. "Then Daphne and Theo will go with you, and Blaise and I will keep watch somehow."

Harry grinned and said, "Well, I managed to do that sense extending charm, so I could do that for vision for you and Blaise, and if you two happen to be having a conversation where you can see the hallway with the extension, that would work very well."

And so it was decided that in two days' time, they would go to the third floor to see what was there. After they were safely back in their dormitories, Harry told them about his escapade with the troll, and hesitantly mentioned the Killing Curse. All of them seemed to agree that it was the sensible thing to do, and weren't surprised he had managed to perform it in a moment of peril, and Harry was happy to find that they weren't disgusted in the slightest. On the contrary, they looked at Harry with something akin to awe, knowing that the spell was a very high level spell, though it wasn't taught at Hogwarts for rather obvious reasons.

In his office, Albus Dumbledore smiled. He hadn't found a signature on the troll's body, which meant someone hadn't used a wand to kill it. Someone was very powerful in the castle, and Dumbledore was happy. He sat in his chair, and smiled. And the troll was perfectly timed, too, he was most happy that Quirrell had decided to do so then. Dumbledore knew Quirrell wanted to get into the third-floor corridor, of course. Quirrell was very weak though, and Dumbledore knew he had no chance at his goal. He thought again about the dead troll and the wandless _Avada Kedavra_. Oh yes, someone powerful indeed. Everything was going according to plan.

The next day, Harry was confronted on his way into the Great Hall by Hermione Granger.

"Hey, Harry, can we talk for a minute?" she asked, somewhat nervously.

"Sure," Harry answered, catching the implied "alone" and steering them to an empty alcove. "What's up?"

"I was there in the bathroom," Hermione blurted out. "I saw you kill the troll, and I saw you do it without your wand."

 _Well, shit_ , Harry thought. "It's not what it looked like, Hermione, I had no choice."

"You killed it," she said flatly.

"Wait, where were you that you could see me?"

Hermione blushed and said shortly, "I was in one of the stalls, but the door had been ripped off its hinges, so I saw you kill it."

"I know, Hermione, but what was I supposed to do?"

"Thank you," she said, hugging him tightly, not noticing his obvious discomfort. "I wanted to help, but you couldn't hear me, the troll was smashing everything and...it was just awful, Harry," she said, almost sobbing. When she let go, there was a fierce blaze in her eyes, and Harry would never have anticipated the words that came out of her mouth next. "Teach me."

"Hermione, Hermione, I can't just go around teaching that. It's all about intent, you know..."

"Teach me, or I'll tell the professors the truth," she said, but there was truly no threat in her voice, and Harry could detect that. Hermione wouldn't really threaten him, Harry reasoned he was probably among her first friends.

"Of course, of course, just don't go around killing people, yeah? And promise me you won't use that as blackmail anymore," Harry joked. "You sure you're supposed to be in Gryffindor?"

Hermione blushed and said, "Just because I want to learn, doesn't mean I'm going to use it, I just think with You-Know-Who not really gone, it's a spell to know."

"I meant with the blackmail, getting into Slytherin territory there," Harry grinned. "Good job, you're learning well. Come on, let's go."

Hermione looked surprised to be complimented on her blackmailing of all things, even if she hadn't meant it, and so she headed into the Great Hall alongside Harry looking rather bewildered, but also feeling rather smug. As they entered, Harry and Hermione walked to their respective tables.

"What did she want?" Theo asked.

Harry waved the question off and said, "I'll tell you later, it's not important."

With just that sentence, all the others knew it was a rather important revelation, and stopped asking for the rest of breakfast and classes that day. Once in the boys' dorm room, Harry relayed his conversation with Hermione to them. Harry thought they all looked rather dumb with varying degrees of shock on their faces. They knew Hermione would do much to learn new spells, but no one expected her to start dabbling in the Dark Arts, and especially not in first year. There was a reason she was a Gryffindor, after all, and not a Slytherin or a Ravenclaw. But apparently that reason had nothing to do with the Dark Arts.

However, Harry quickly realized a catch in the deal. The Killing Curse was not easy to practice, as it would attract almost immediate attention in the library and other public places, and he was almost certain the upper year Slytherin leaders would not allow Hermione into the common room or the dorms. It would be nice to have their own study space anyway, Harry reasoned, and Hogwarts was filled with abandoned classrooms and secret rooms. He would have to ask the Slytherin leaders if they could tell him of one, or go find one on his own.

"Keep your eyes out for a good meeting place for us," Harry said to the others. "If we're going to practice the Killing Curse, it's not going to be in the library."

They all nodded, though none had found any as of then. Harry figured that they could practice on spiders or other such creatures, after all, that was what the Killing Curse had originally been invented for before Dark Lords and their followers contorted it.

Lost in his thoughts, Harry's mind wandered, and he didn't really pay attention to the idle chatter of his classmates until he heard his brother's name. With the mention of Jason, Harry remembered Jason's actions at dinner. He and Ronald had been mocking someone, taunting with their words and actions, and Harry knew whom they had been taunting. Hermione. Enough was enough, Harry decided he would have to do something about it. Harry recalled the conversation between James and Lily and grinned eerily.

"I'll be back, I've got something I need to do," Harry called over his shoulder as he ran out the door. He knew roughly where the Gryffindor common room was, but he headed toward the kitchens, a spell in mind. Harry tickled the pear, a secret he had learned through observation, and entered the kitchen. He smiled, seeing the Weasley twins sitting at a table. Harry hadn't expected this, but it wasn't unwelcome despite his dislike for them. They did owe him a favor, and if he didn't have to do the prank himself, it was easier not to get caught. Besides, the Weasley twins were far more experienced. Harry walked over to them, shortly described the plan, and they nodded, matching grins on their faces. Harry left the kitchen eating a treacle tart on the way to the Slytherin common room, and was still eating when he entered the dorm. Blaise and Theo just looked at him confused, but Harry shook his head, refusing to explain. He fell asleep more satisfied than he had ever felt in his life.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: MajorChaos13, I've tried to leave the parents' characters a bit more vague, they'll come into play a little bit more later. Harry's wandless AK is going to be a one-off, moment-of-need kind of thing (at least until later), but I'm not going to say anything re: any spells with his wand. The rest I hope to resolve in future chapters, but even I'm not completely sure where this story's going yet.**

 **Smutley Do-Wrong, thanks again for everything, I've made a couple changes to the story (all minor, guys, no worries, you haven't missed anything majorly important, just edits to the "blackmail" scene in Ch 5 mostly).**

 **Thanks to everyone who reviewed, here's the next chapter, enjoy and leave your thoughts! Also, updates might start becoming not daily, but I'll try my best to keep it daily.**

Harry strode confidently into the Great Hall, a smirk plastered onto his face. He sat down where his friends sat already, Harry having arrived slightly later than normal. As he sat down, he started eating his food, though the smirk never left his face. Suddenly, his eyes watched as Jason entered the Great Hall and sat down. The other four heard Harry happily mutter a nonsense word as he continued to more discreetly watch Jason. The Great Hall gasped as Jason flew into the air the moment he took a bite into his food. Jason looked around, struggling against the force keeping him afloat, but to no avail. At a pace one might call overly dramatic, Jason turned to face Lily Potter at the staff table. Words above his head spelled out "Nothing is impossible" and stayed there for a minute, with the Great Hall in silence, until they flew away, wrapping themselves around Lily and then around James, who sat nearby, as he had been stationed at Hogwarts for the month of November. Lily and James both turned to look at their wayward, green-eyed son, but his reaction appeared to be no different from the rest of the hall. Like every student, he was watching the prank with a silent solemness and amusement behind his eyes. As the words disappeared from around James, the word "Bully" spelled itself in large letters across Jason's face. Jason then promptly fell into a heap on the Gryffindor table, splattering food and juice everywhere. The Weasley twins looked confused. That last part had not been part of the prank, and they looked at Harry carefully. However, neither twin saw anything through his facade, and went back to their food.

Harry was happy to see later in the day that despite Jason's trip to the Hospital Wing, the word hadn't been erased. He had been pleasantly surprised by that part of the prank, as it was not his doing. Harry thought he had seen Hermione looking oddly satisfied, and decided to ask her about it sometime later. The rest of the day went by slowly for the five Slytherin friends, as they were all looking forward to their expedition to the third floor corridor that evening. History of Magic wouldn't help anything, so Harry decided to try out an idea he'd wanted to test since the beginning of the year. That day, he simply didn't show up to class, and was told later by his friends, somewhat enviously, that Professor Binns hadn't even noticed. Harry smiled, knowing what he would do for the rest of the year. He had studied ahead and was at least a month ahead in the curriculum, so he could do much experimenting and exploring with his newfound free time.

Harry ate a quick dinner and headed to the Quidditch pitch for a little bit of practice on his own, as Slytherin's game against Gryffindor was coming up in just a few weeks. Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch captain, had drilled the team until they could barely stand for the last month, but Harry found that he loved the game and the exhaustion. Flying was a freeing experience, and in the air, he let go of all of his emotions, except the joy of flying. Harry turned out to be an excellent Seeker, possibly due to his experiences with Harry hunting in his youth, though Harry wasn't exactly sure why. He had been particularly proud when Flint, who rarely gave compliments, told him he could be the best Hogwarts Seeker since Charlie Weasley if he tried hard enough in the next years.

After flying around with a Snitch a little bit, Harry shouldered the broom given to him by Rosier after his defeat of Malfoy, and headed to the Slytherin common room. He quickly showered and changed after his practice run, and lay in his bed, waiting for the rest of the castle to go to sleep. Before he knew it, Theo was shaking him awake, already up and ready to go. Harry grinned and got up quickly, fully dressed.

"How you manage to wake up that quickly, I'll never know," Theo said.

"Old habits die hard," Harry said, somewhat darkly, but then grinned and walked quietly to the common room, where Blaise, Tracey, and Daphne awaited him. They walked out of the common room together, heading toward the third-floor corridor. As they approached the stairs, Harry whispered the incantation for the sight intensifying charm, pointing his wand at Blaise and Tracey. The two of them stayed on a landing by the moving stairs, and as soon as Daphne, Theo, and Harry were a bit farther away, Blaise and Tracey started arguing over which way was the right way to go to the Slytherin common room, while keeping an eye on the other three. The other three walked up to the corridor and without a second thought, right into it. The corridor was long and empty, with a few doors on either side.

"There isn't much in here," Theo said. "Wonder what's so dangerous?"

"Let's look around, maybe into some of the doors," Harry said. They split up, each looking around the corridors and into doors that they came across, an occasional yell from each of them telling what they'd discovered.

"Empty room," Daphne said.

"Broom closet," Theo replied, looking into the nearest door.

This went for a while, until Theo opened a door and it wouldn't budge. "Over here, I found one that's locked," Theo said to the others.

Harry and Daphne walked over, their wands out and ready.

"Well, I don't know that many unlocking spells, only two, really," Harry said, "but I guess it's worth a shot. _Alohamora!_ "

None of them had believed that would work, and so were astounded when the door opened readily. They slowly creaked open the door and peeked inside, immediately closing it again after a loud, vicious barking filled the room.

"Was that...?" Theo began.

"Yep. That was. What's a three-headed dog doing here?" Harry asked.

"No clue, but if we look again maybe we can find out," Daphne said.

Theo opened the door once more, and they stood a good distance back, the three-headed dog sitting placidly in its place now that the intruders weren't in the room.

"There!" Daphne pointed. "It's sitting on a trap door."

"Well, we're not getting to it unless you happen to know how to calm a three-headed dog," Theo stated dryly. "And didn't Dumbledore say something about death? I suppose the dog is probably deadly somehow, but it's not very subtle, is it?"

Harry laughed and said, "Well, students were bound to look for it, so I'm not sure you want a subtle death here. But then again, that's almost inviting people to go try and pass the dog."

The trio left the corridor, passing Blaise and Tracey on the way, who joined them, continuing whatever conversation they had been holding for a bit and then joining the other three in their small talk. They entered the Slytherin common room quietly and headed to the boys' dorm room.

"So?" Tracey asked. "What did you find?"

"A three-headed dog guarding a trap door," Theo replied.

"Three-headed dogs? Never heard of them," Blaise said.

"I'll ask Hermione, if anyone will know, it's her," Harry reasoned.

"A lot of Muggle myths and legends have magical creatures in them," Daphne pointed out. "Problem being, they're inaccurate more times than they're right. I'm sure we could find something in the library."

"That would look really suspicious," Tracey said grimly. "We could try, but we can't ask anyone for help."

"Well, I'll ask Hermione and see what happens, and if she can't find anything, then we're at a loss," Harry said with finality.

"Even if she knows how to get past a three-headed dog, do we really want to try?" asked Daphne. "We have no way of knowing what's beyond the door, not to mention there's a high chance of us not being able to get back out."

"Agreed, we need a bit more information before we can go down there," Blaise said.

They talked about more inconsequential things for a bit longer until the girls left the room and everyone went to sleep.

A man yelling, a woman screaming as she hit the floor. Another shape moves towards Harry, but someone blocks the figure's path. A jet of green light. And then pain. So much pain. Harry woke in the middle of the night drenched in cold sweat, a sharp pain in his scar that just wouldn't go away. Harry held his forehead, but that just made it worse, and the pain became so much that Harry screamed, and the other two boys woke up immediately, finding Harry wide awake and breathing heavily. The sharp pain had reduced to a dull throb, but Harry seemed in pain, clutching his forehead right where the scar was.

"What happened?" Theo asked cautiously.

"Nightmare," Harry breathed out. "And then my scar hurt...a lot."

"Is that supposed to happen?" Blaise asked. "If it's hurting again, it's more of an injury than a scar..."

Harry let go of his forehead, and the two boys got a closer look at it. They had only ever seen it through some of Harry's hair or from a distance, though they had marked its odd shape.

"Hey, you know a lightning bolt scar is what made Jason famous as the Boy-Who-Lived?" Theo asked curiously. "How long have you had that?" he continued, already knowing the answer.

"As long as I can remember, but it's never hurt at all," Harry responded, his face becoming more angry as he followed Theo's train of thought.

"Well, we already know something fishy happened the night you and your brother were marked, and now we know it can't have had anything to do with scars," Blaise finished the thought. "So what happened?"

"I don't know, but the question is really, 'Who would know?'" Harry wondered. "I mean, probably Dumbledore, but he's not going to say anything, that's for sure. James and Lily are smarter than that, too, if it really is something fishy."

"Wouldn't hurt to ask them, they'd have to give you some sort of answer, even if it is entirely made up. Usually those are based on at least a little truth to make it believable," Theo decided. "Why don't you go see what you can find tomorrow?"

Harry agreed, and the two boys went back to sleep. This time, Harry had a peaceful sleep, and only woke up once more in the morning. He took his time getting ready, as usual, waiting for the other two, and went down to the Great Hall. After their classes, Harry headed to the library to tend to his first order of business that day. He knew he would find Hermione there, and he easily walked up to her.

"Hermione, do you have a minute?" Harry asked.

"Sure, I was going to go find you, I have something to show you, too," she said. "Come on."

The two walked in silence for a while, Harry being wary of the portraits lining the hall, and Hermione knowing he would talk when he felt it was safe. The hallway soon became more abandoned, and more decrepit, and soon, there were no portraits at all, which was strange for a Hogwarts corridor.

"What do you know about magical three-headed dogs?" Harry asked.

"Like Cerberus? From Greek mythology, guardian of the Underworld. Music put him to sleep, if I recall correctly," Hermione said.

"Have you read it in any magical textbooks or just the myth?"

"Just the myth, why?" Hermione asked, but then immediately answered her own question. "Myths aren't always accurate, are they?"

Harry just hummed in affirmation, and Hermione added, "You can probably find them in some book on magical creatures somewhere, but it might be classified as a Dark creature and would be in the restricted section. Or you could go ask Hagrid, he knows loads about this sort of creatures."

"Hagrid? The giant who lives on the grounds?"

"Yes, he's the gamekeeper, he's very nice. I've been to the hut a couple times, and he's always welcomed me in, and I'm sure he'll be happy to get visitors."

"Thanks, now what did you want to show me?"

The pair had stopped in front of a door in a part of the corridor with cobwebs all over that looked like it hadn't been used in years.

"Here," Hermione said, pointing not at the door, but at the wall. She tapped a few bricks in order, quite like the entrance to Diagon Alley, and the door across the wall opened. The pair entered the room, and Harry looked around in awe. The classroom looked something like he would imagine an intensive dueling or Defense Against the Dark Arts class's classroom to look like, and found out from Hermione that his guess had been spot on. She informed him that this was once the site of one of Hogwarts' most prestigious classes, Dueling. The class had been discontinued before the first war with Voldemort, near the beginning of Albus Dumbledore's tenure as Headmaster. According to the textbook she had read, the class had been "the root of too much house division and strife" and had thus been discontinued. While this explanation did make some sense to Harry, especially considering the nature of the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Harry had to wonder about the timing. If this was as prestigious a class as the book said, then certainly high-level programs and departments such as the Department of Magical Law Enforcement recruited from the class. After all, Hogwarts was the only British magical school, as far as he and Hermione knew. So why disband the class just as a war started? Were there too many Voldemort sympathizers? Surely there were easier ways to fix that while still educating those loyal to Dumbledore.

Whatever the reason, the room was perfect for their purposes of practicing spells that were most certainly not school or ministry approved. Harry and Hermione spent some time cleaning the room with calls of _Scourgify_ and rearranging the room, and once most of the cobwebs had been cleared, decided they would bring the other four before trying to clean further. They left the room, talking merrily about inconsequential subjects as they walked down the corridor. Harry decided to head to the Muggle Studies office next to ask a few questions, and Hermione headed back to the Gryffindor common room. Harry walked the path he had taken on Halloween, and soon found himself standing outside of the office where he had heard Lily crying. He took a deep breath, arranged his hair so as to cover his scar, and knocked on the door. It opened quickly, Lily Potter standing in the doorway.

"Harry!" she exclaimed, surprised. "Come on in."

Harry walked in and sat in a chair he was ushered to by Lily.

She smiled at him and said, "Haven't seen you all term, what brings you here?"

Harry wondered how much pain her act was causing. After all, she most certainly suspected Harry of performing that prank on Jason. He put on his best innocent expression and said, "Well...I don't really know what happened on Halloween, and well, I'd just like to know what happened. I've missed everything that happened in the wizarding world for ten years, after all."

"Of course, Harry," Lily said. "James and I...we fought on Dumbledore's side in the war, which made us targets for Death Eaters and Voldemort alike, of course. When I found out I was pregnant, I insisted we have a secure place in hiding, so you wouldn't be constantly under attack. Dumbledore arranged it for us, and we lived there safely while I was pregnant and for a year and a bit of your life. James still fought, he couldn't leave his friends to fight alone, but never from the house, and things were going well. But that Halloween day, Voldemort came to our house, having somehow discovered it – to this day we're not sure how he did – and defeated first James and then me in a duel. This part, anyone can only guess on, after all, only you and Jason saw it, but we think Voldemort tried to use the Killing Curse on Jason, and it rebounded, leaving Voldemort as a weak shade of himself and Jason with his scar. We had thought that he had managed to kill you beforehand and burned your body. We found ashes next to Jason when we awoke, and made the assumption that you had died, but it seems that wasn't the case."

"So how did I get away?" Harry asked innocently, looking like nothing more than a curious first year boy.

"No one knows," Lily said. "I think Dumbledore is trying to work out a solution, but he hasn't managed to find one yet. You can ask him, if you'd like, he usually has plenty of time for students."

Harry just shrugged and said, "I think I'm good for now, I'll ask him if I think of anything else. Thank you for answering." He stood up and after a small goodbye, left the office thinking, heading for his last destination of the day. Harry walked out the door to Hogwarts and toward Hagrid's hut, wondering if Lily Potter had told the truth. Had he and Jason been the only ones there? In his dream, he had seen a second figure. And how had he vanished? He definitely had never been to 4 Privet Drive before that time in his life.

Then it hit him, and Harry stood on the grass, feeling like a complete idiot. It had been a long time ago, and it had never been mentioned again. He had overheard his aunt and uncle talking when he was little and they were considering where to send him to school after the most recent incident. Though they had eventually come to no conclusion, Aunt Petunia had gone on a rant about freaks. That was when Harry had started to hope there might be more people like him. But she had also mentioned them leaving a child at their doorstep with nothing but a letter. Harry, in his youth, hadn't connected the pieces. Knowing his relatives, he figured the child would be safely tucked in an orphanage, and had put the thought out of his mind. But now he realized that the child must have been him, though he had been young, so maybe he had misheard. Harry figured he could always ask now. He could always threaten them with magic now, and they loved telling him depressing stories of his childhood anyway. The doorstep could still have been magic, he reasoned, but it was the letter that changed everything. If he had arrived with a letter, someone must have written it and addressed it correctly, and by extension, known where he was to be sent.

He ran quickly to Hagrid's hut, as it had become almost dark. Harry knocked on the door, and the giant man opened it.

"Harry, isn't it? Come on in, come on in," Hagrid said. "I get kids comin' in here all the time, would yeh like some tea?"

"Tea would be great," Harry said, grinning.

"So, how's Hogwarts?" Hagrid asked.

"Spectacular, everything is so beautiful, and magic is wonderful."

Hagrid laughed. "Said that my first year, too."

They talked a while longer, and Harry soon asked him curiously about his job. Hagrid told him about his various duties, including his relations with the creatures of the Forest.

"So you like creatures then?" Harry asked.

"I love 'em," Hagrid replied. "Favorite things in the world. I'd like to have a dragon someday."

"Dragons? I thought those were only myths."

Hagrid went on to tell Harry all about dragons, and Harry was surprised to find that Hagrid's talk was actually very informative and very interesting. In between, he asked Harry if he minded if Hagrid had a little drink, and Harry just smiled and told him it was no problem. After he had finished with dragons, Harry asked him about more mythical creatures. Unicorn, pegasus, leprechaun, creatures from all sorts of mythology, eventually asking about Cerberus, the three-headed dog of Greek mythology. Hagrid happily started on three-headed dogs, talking about Fluffy, his three-headed dog, and telling Harry that music put them right to sleep. By then, Hagrid had had a bit to drink.

"Does Fluffy live in the forest?" Harry asked.

"Usually, but she's up in the third floor now," Hagrid responded. "Shouldn't a' said that."

"Is she deadly? Dumbledore said there's certain death up there," Harry said nervously.

"Well, she can be, but I told her not ter bite students, it's the other professors' traps that'll do it," Hagrid said. "But o' course, you can just go back if it's too hard for you." Hagrid burped after that sentence and then said, "Shouldn't a' said that."

Harry just smiled. This was more information than he expected, but he wasn't complaining. By the time he left, he had gotten Hagrid to tell him what he knew of the puzzles, and Harry left feeling ecstatic."

He walked back up to the common room and went straight to his dormitory. As soon as he entered the room, Harry laughed, exhilarated. Hestia had returned from the Owlery after her most recent trip to a perch in the dorm, and she looked at Harry strangely, as did Blaise and Theo. She held out her leg, and Harrt took the most recent letter from Ginny from her. Harry quickly read it and wrote a response, and then penned a rather threatening letter to the Dursleys, and gave it to Hestia along with the letter for Ginny.

"You know where the first one goes, but please deliver the second one to 4 Privet Drive in Little Whinging," he told her. "But put it in the mailbox when they're not around."

"Get Daphne and Tracey, I have a lot to tell you guys," Harry said.

As soon as they were all gathered in the room, they all looked at him with anticipation.

"What is it?" Tracey asked excitedly.

"We're going into the trap door tomorrow night," Harry replied.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Magnusss, yep, at some stage, he probably will be that op, but that's certainly not going to be that soon. I don't know if a three-headed dog is arguably cheaper, Hagrid just happened to have one, so for Hogwarts, it's at no cost. Dragons also seem to be much more well-known in both worlds. After all, it's the more common creatures that are often overlooked. My thought was that none of them had taken Care yet, so they shouldn't know, while Hermione would likely know of the Greek myth with Cerberus. From the way I see it, Hermione is much smarter than some of the purebloods (i.e. Malfoy) due to her studying, but practically, she's leagues behind the purebloods and those who have practiced already.**

 **As usual, thanks to everyone for the reviews and please leave your thoughts on the chapter - now things start going quickly.**

"Tomorrow night?!" Daphne asked. "Are you insane? We don't know what's down there. Besides, the first Quidditch match for Slytherin is tomorrow."

Harry just smirked and asked, "Anyone here play chess?"

"Chess? Chess? Harry, stop for a minute and think. Why do you want to play chess when you've just said something like that?" Daphne raged wildly.

"Daphne, calm down, I'll explain in a second, but first, we need a chess player."

"I play chess," Blaise responded.

"Do you play well?" Harry asked.

"I usually win at the galas thrown by random pureblood families...among the Hogwarts-age people, anyway."

"That should be good enough. Anyway, down there, there are a bunch of tests, all guarding some end result. Most of our professors have made the tests, plus Hagrid."

"The dog," Theo guessed.

"Yeah," Harry said. "He also let slip that when he made his test, Dumbledore told him that it couldn't be lethal and that anyone who tried hard enough should be able to pass it."

"So they aren't traps, really, it's like you said," Tracey said. "They're more like tests, if anything."

"Dumbledore wants someone to go down there, and I'm willing to bet he's testing his golden boy," Harry sneered.

Harry then carefully explained what he knew of each test to the four. The chess set he knew the most about as Hagrid was closest to McGonagall, but he knew at least rough details of most of them.

"Hold on a second," Blaise said. "That seems almost tailor-made for the trio. Ronald Weasley is particularly skilled at chess, but I did beat him the one time we played a game."

"Huh...that's odd. Sprout's trap is bothersome, we should read at least a bit of material before going just in case. I'm going to get Hermione to come, too, while she isn't as good with the practical aspect, she's great with book stuff," Harry explained. "We five should be able to it, but better we have more people than we need than not enough."

"Okay, tomorrow's Saturday, so we'll have time for reading what we need to," Tracey said. "But should all six of us really go down the trap door? That does seem like too many people."

"Well, better chance we'll get through, right? As far as Hagrid knew, they're all based on knowledge, and the more of us there are, the higher chance at least one of us remembers it. Dumbledore seems to want people in the corridor with these tests, so I doubt we'll need a lookout," Harry said thoughtfully.

"Harry, the Quidditch match tomorrow means that all the Prefects and professors will be out in the corridors, making sure the party doesn't get too wild," Daphne warned.

Harry hadn't thought about that, and resignedly said, "Okay, okay, we'll do it Sunday then, then we'll have more time to prepare, too."

Daphne nodded, satisfied, and asked, "One more question: do you know what these tests are even for? Why are they there? If there's nothing at the end, why should we go?"

Harry shrugged and said, "Hagrid let slip that that's between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel."

Theo looked up sharply. "The only thing that could be is the Philosopher's Stone," he said. "But I really hope Dumbledore isn't stupid enough to hide it behind traps that can be beaten by a first-year." Theo went on to explain what the Philosopher's Stone could do, and they decided for certain that the one in the trap door must be a fake, but they figured it was at least worth retrieving. They discussed their plans a while longer, eventually heading to their own rooms and going to sleep.

Harry woke up the next morning with a feeling like a rock in the pit of his stomach. His first Quidditch match as part of the Slytherin Quidditch team was that day. Harry slipped on the jacket given to him by the team, which reminded him of varsity jackets he had seen on an American television show he had watched often when the Dursleys were not in the house. It had been charmed to grow in size as he grew, so it would fit him throughout his Hogwarts career. However, he would have to try out again the following year, something that was unique to the Slytherin team. All players except the captain would have to try out once more, as there was always the possibility of a hidden talent springing up in future years, though the returning players were often accepted back to the team without much protest from others if they had had an exceptional season the previous year. Harry himself had replaced the previous year's seeker, Terence Higgs, who was currently the reserve Seeker. Slytherin also always had reserve players in case of injuries and other such occurrences, and all of this, combined with the fact that Slytherin never suffered from lack of talent, had led them to seven Quidditch Cup victories in a row.

At the previous practice, Harry had been told to wait in the common room for all of the other Quidditch players, so they could enter as a team, so he sat quietly reading a book. The next to enter was the captain of Slytherin's team, sixth-year Marcus Flint, along with his fellow chaser Adrian Pucey, a third-year. They walked over to Harry, and they started talking strategy as slowly, the rest of the team filed into the room. The last to enter was Miles Bletchley, a third-year who had upset the competition at tryouts to become the new Slytherin Keeper.

The Slytherin team left the common room and walked amiably to the Great Hall. As soon as they stepped foot in the hall, the Slytherin table erupted in cheers, while jeers came from the Gryffindors, their opponents. Harry was surprised to see some Ravenclaws cheering for Slytherin, as well as some with green and silver scarves or hats. Harry sat down by the rest of the team and took a piece of toast and eggs, but ate very slowly.

"Potter, eat something," Marcus laughed. "I was like that, too, my first game, but trust me, you don't want to play on an empty stomach."

Harry ate a bit more quickly after that, but still didn't eat quite as much as they normally would. After the team was done, the Slytherin team stood and headed down toward the pitch. They entered the locker rooms, changed quickly, and grabbed their brooms, waiting nervously to be announced to the pitch. Marcus reminded them again that Gryffindor would play dirty and blame it on them, so they had to expect a lot of penalties and fouls. Miles just grinned devilishly. A large factor as to why he had been chosen was due to his ability to save penalty shots. Harry heard the noise level keep going up outside, and knew that the students had started filing into the stands, talking loudly and cheering and jeering. Harry's anxiety grew, until finally, he heard Lee Jordan's voice over magical speakers somewhere in the stands.

"Welcome to today's match everyone, Slytherin versus Gryffindor!" Jordan yelled excitedly. "First, the Slytherins...we have Pucey, Montague, Bletchley, Derrick, Bole, Potter, and captain Marcus Flint!"

The Slytherin team flew a lap around the pitch, the green and silver section of the stands going wild. Harry whooped with joy, and slowly, everything around him melted away. He was in the air, and nothing could catch him now.

"And the Gryffindors...Johnson, Spinnet, Bell, Weasley, Weasley, Henderson, and captain Oliver Wood!"

The Gryffindors also took a lap, the red and gold Gryffindor section cheering like crazy. They came to a stop on the ground across from the Slytherin team with Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Keeper and captain, landing right next to Marcus. They shook hands as Madam Hooch spoke the usual pleasantries, and then the Quaffle was released as both teams rose into the air.

"An interesting match-up we've got today, both teams playing new Seekers today. For Slytherin, we've got Harry Potter flying a Comet 260, the youngest Seeker in a century, replacing Terence Higgs of last year's Slytherin lineup. And for Gryffindor, we have fourth-year Aaron Henderson flying a Cleansweep Seven, a bit faster than the 260, Potter will need to play his best to keep up today. And we're off, Flint taking early control, passes to Montague, Pucey, back to Montague, and a shot! But it's thankfully blocked by Wood, and he passes it out to Spinnet..." Jordan continued to commentate in this manner, biased toward the Gryffindors for sure, but Harry figured it could be much worse. Harry noted that Henderson often stopped to watch the Chasers, something he shouldn't have been doing. Harry also occasionally watched the play, but usually only with one eye. The game was ruthless, and after half an hour, neither team had scored a single goal. As loath as the Slytherins were to admit it, Oliver Wood was a phenomenal Keeper, and had made many spectacular saves. Miles Bletchley didn't disappoint either, and blocked four penalties as well as all of the other Gryffindor shots. Neither Seeker had seen the Snitch, and play continued, but now with a fatigue in the air. Both teams started to get physical, both teams claiming the other committed more fouls. Finally, in the fifty-third minute of the game, the Quaffle left the hands of Adrian Pucey and soared through the Gryffindor goalposts, making the score ten to zero Slytherin. A new vigor was brought into the game, and by the time an hour was up, the score stood at forty to ten to Slytherin. That was when Harry saw the glint of gold hovering near Fred Weasley as he beat a Bludger towards Montague. He looked around, and saw that Henderson, flying slightly to his right, was watching him. Harry knew, from this angle, that Henderson would make it first if he shot off towards the Snitch. Keeping the Snitch in his sight, Harry quickly shot to the right of where the Snitch was.

"It looks like Potter's seen the Snitch!" Jordan called excitedly. "Henderson's following quickly, overtaking Potter!"

But just as this happened, Harry swerved to the left, headed right to where the Snitch really was. Harry shot forward, pushing his broom to maximum speed, as fast as it could go. Henderson had taken longer to turn, not having anticipated Harry's turn, and was now too far behind Harry. Henderson could only watch in horror as Harry's fingers closed around the Snitch, ending the low-scoring match. Though an hour was rather typical for a Quidditch match at Hogwarts, the small amount of goals made the game seem more grueling and more arduous.

"One hundred ninety to ten, Slytherin!" Jordan yelled, sounding disappointed. However, he sounded as though he had expected this result. Though the Gryffindor versus Slytherin match was always the closest match of the year, Slytherin had won as long as Lee Jordan had been in Hogwarts, a fact which he found rather displeasing. The Slytherins swarmed the pitch, lifting the members of the team in the air and cheering loudly. Harry noted that even Malfoy took part in the festivities, cheering along with the rest of the house. The Slytherin team members were carried back to the common room on the shoulders of upper year students, all of the Slytherins chanting and cheering all the way there. Once in the common room, Harry gaped at the table that found itself there laden with all sorts of food, like a Great Hall banquet. He saw many sweets there he had never seen before, and on a nearby table, drinks were laid out. Harry was rather certain that some of these drinks could not be legally consumed by most of the house, and made a mental note to stay away from those. One of his greatest fears growing up had been the times when Uncle Vernon had had a bit too much to drink, as those days were always the worst for Harry. Harry was soon pulled out of his bitter thoughts once more by his friends laughing around him, giving him something to eat and a drink they called Butterbeer that they assured him had nothing harmful in it or at least that he couldn't get drunk after one bottle of it. Once Harry eventually had a sip, he proclaimed that it was the best thing he had ever tasted, and happily finished the bottle he had. The Slytherin team was at the center of the party, being congratulated and cheered for an excellent match. Harry listened to some of his teammate's retellings of the plays to the other Slytherins, and wondered why they just didn't have cameras or the magical equivalent at the games. Harry talked with his friends, mostly, as people gathered around the team and drank. He stayed for an hour or two, but left once he noticed people starting to get tipsy.

Harry and his friends retreated to their rooms, and decided to go to sleep and look through some texts the next day. That night, Harry's scar did not pain him, and he had no nightmares or dreams.

They woke up the next day and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. They quickly ate a little bit of food and then went immediately to the library, where they started reading through various second-year and third-year textbooks. Each of them took the subjects they were particularly bright in, which resulted in Potions textbooks for Harry, Charms for Daphne, Transfiguration for Theo, Defense for Blaise, and Herbology for Tracey. All of them were stumped as to what Dumbledore's puzzle could be, and decided that if they were well-prepared for the others, they should be able to figure out his. Soon after, Hermione entered the library, and Harry waved her over. They had planned to show the others the new room that day, and Harry figured it would be a good space to practice spells for today. The five took their books and walked with Harry and Hermione, heading to the abandoned dueling room. When they arrived, everyone looked around in awe. Harry explained what the classroom had been once used for, and it was declared perfect for their purposes.

They spent the rest of the day practicing spells in there after telling Hermione of their plan that night. Hermione, to everyone's surprise but Harry's, readily agreed without a complaint about the rules. As it was soon time for dinner, they headed to the Great Hall once more, and ate their dinner, before going to their respective common rooms, making it seem as though they had simply called it an early night, something which was not uncommon among Hogwarts students on Sundays. They waited until the common rooms were empty, which due to most students going to bed early before Mondays, didn't take long. The five Slytherins headed out of the common room, much like they had earlier, and walked to their agreed meeting point on the third floor. Gryffindors tended to stay up later, Hermione had said, but they also didn't particularly care if a student left the common room after hours. A few minutes later, Hermione walked up to them, grinning. The six walked to the corridor and after an _Alohamora_ , entered the room with the dog. Daphne, as an upstanding member of pureblood society, had been taught to play an instrument in her childhood, and had thus brought along her flute. She started to play a calming melody she had learned years earlier, and the dog fell asleep, just as Hagrid said it would.

Harry walked over and moved its paw without hesitation, opening the trap door underneath the paw. He looked down, noting that he couldn't see the end, and beckoned the others over. They all looked down, then at each other somewhat nervously. In the end, it was Theo who shrugged and jumped into the pit, with everyone following him, Daphne going last, shrinking and stowing her flute once more. They landed in a strange tangled mess. However, only Harry started squirming to try to get out of it. Daphne, Blaise, and Theo knew this plant as Devil's Snare, as it was actually quite a common weed in magical gardens, and Tracey and Hermione knew it due to their knowledge of Herbology, but Harry was bored by the subject, and never bothered to read ahead there.

Harry started to panic even more when the other five fell through the vines to a place he couldn't see.

"Stop fidgeting, Harry, we're okay!" yelled Daphne. "It's Devil's Snare, it only gets tighter if you fidget, but it'll loosen if you stay still."

Harry kept still, and sure enough, he felt the constraining vines begin to loosen, and eventually, he fell through as his friends had done.

"Well," Tracey snorted. "That was easy enough, that's covered later in first year."

They headed towards the door in the room, noticing more Devil's Snare on the walls. Tracey and Theo easily defended against the Devil's Snare with bluebell flames, and the group walked to the next door. Opening it, they found a room that was seemingly filled with bugs flying around the room. The door was on the opposite side, and Harry wondered what was to stop them from opening it. Blaise, with the same thought, walked over and pulled at the handle, but it wouldn't budge. Hermione cast _Alohamora_ on it, and Blaise tried once more, but it didn't budge. Daphne then came and tried the more advanced unlocking charms she knew, but nothing worked.

"This must be Flitwick," Harry said."He's excellent at what he does, and I wouldn't be surprised if that were a locking charm he invented himself. In any case, we'll have to get the key, but where is it?"

Theo pointed upwards and said, "I thought those were some kind of bugs, but it turns out they're all keys with wings. None of them is big enough to fit that lock though."

"Except that one," Tracey said, pointing to a large key with a broken wing.

"Here, there's a broom there," Hermione pointed.

"This seems almost too easy," Daphne said what was on everyone's mind. The broken key was a larger, slower Golden Snitch, and one among them was the youngest Quidditch player in a century.

"Jason's been trained as a Seeker, too," Harry said slowly, mounting the broom. "He could certainly catch it."

"And Dean Thomas is actually rather studious, he would have figured out how to beat Devil's Snare for sure, once we learned it in Herbology, anyway," Hermione added.

Harry nodded and lifted off with the broom, and suddenly, the six saw why this test was more complicated than it looked. The smaller keys started swarming Harry, making it almost impossible to see, and every time Harry beat some away, more replaced them.

"We need to immobilize those small keys!" Daphne yelled, that having been one of the spells they had practiced in the room earlier that day. It was in the second-year Charms book, and had looked very useful. All of them started casting, and slowly, the keys stopped moving towards Harry, if only for a little while before they started moving again, but it made all the difference. Harry flew around the keys that stayed still, and grabbed the rusted old key. He flew down, handing the key to Blaise, who ran and unlocked the door. The six piled into the next room, closing the door behind them.

The next chamber was a daunting room lit only by torches. Around them, the severed limbs and heads of chess pieces formed a sort of graveyard. In the middle of the room, between them and the door, they found a giant wizard's chess set missing three pieces on their side.

"Oh come now," Theo said. "Can Dumbledore make it any more obvious that he wants the trio to do this? Now a chess set specifically with three empty spots?"

Blaise shrugged and said, "If this is actual wizard's chess, it's going to be dangerous."

Hermione sighed. "I don't suppose we can try the door on the other side?"

Daphne shook her head. "The chess pieces would stop us with their swords. See how they're crossed to stop anyone from getting through?"

Blaise shrugged and said, "Well, here goes nothing." He took a place on top of a horse as a knight, and directed Harry to act as a bishop and Theo as a castle. Blaise directed the pieces easily with his voice, giving them his instructions as one would a normal set of wizard's chess. He skillfully played his way through the game, and after half an hour of chess, had checkmated the king on the other side. He had sacrificed many pieces, but had managed to keep his friends intact. The king's sword fell at Blaise's feet, and the six proceeded onward through the now unblocked door. The door opened easily, and they made their way into the next chamber.

The next chamber had a very familiar sight to Harry and Hermione in it, and he heard her gasp as she saw the mountain troll.

"Quirrell's test," Harry sneered.

"So I guess kill it?" Theo asked.

"I don't think I can do it again, I can try, but it'll probably just anger the troll. We need a good way to take it out," Harry responded.

"That club causes a lot of damage, from what you said," Theo began.

"Maybe it can be used to knock the troll itself out?" Daphne finished.

"A simple _Wingardium Leviosa_ would be enough," Hermione decided.

As the best with Charms, Daphne fluidly performed the motion and said the incantation quietly, so as not to disturb the troll. The club flew out of its hands, and above its head. The troll just stupidly looked at its flying club, and watched it as it hit its own head.

"I guess that's how the troll got past Dumbledore on Halloween," Harry said. "He wanted to make sure that the trio could take one out. And wasn't that the same day as the lesson on _Wingardium Leviosa_?"

"It was, but how could Dumbledore know that they would go find the troll? Surely they can't be that stupid," Hermione said. "Unless...but that can't be, that relies on far too much chance, or..." she trailed off, as the alternate possibilities were rather dangerous, and most certainly did not paint the headmaster in a good light. "I'll explain later," Hermione told the others, who were now casting curious glances. "I was in there, too, and it's just, well..." she trailed off again, embarrassed.

"Explain later, come on, let's go to the next chamber," Harry said. "It should be Snape's or Dumbledore's, though knowing Dumbledore, his is last."

Sure enough, as they walked through the door, flames erupted behind and in front of them. They saw multiple potions of some sort lined up in bottles from smallest to largest, and a scroll unraveled behind the potions contained the riddle they had been waiting for on it.

" _Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,_

 _Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,_

 _One among us seven will let you move ahead,_

 _Another will transport the drinker back instead,_

 _Two among our number hold only nettle wine,_

 _Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line._

 _Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,_

 _To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:_

 _First, however slyly the poison tries to hide_

 _You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;_

 _Second, different are those who stand at either end,_

 _But if you would move onwards neither is your friend;_

 _Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,_

 _Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;_

 _Fourth, the second left and the second on the right_

 _Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight._ "

Each of them studied the riddle for a bit, until Daphne spoke up. "Third lets you go forward, last one goes back."

"Agreed," spoke Harry. Hermione and Blaise also spoke their assent.

"Wait, but what happens to the other four of us?" Tracey asked.

"Just split the potions, these kinds of potions only need a drop to be effective," Harry said. "And we should probably take both of them with us, just in case." He waved his wand, speaking the incantation for a labeling charm he had learned from the Ravenclaw who had been the culprit behind the prank on Jason. Now both bottles were labeled based on the effects of each. Each one of the six friends took a drop of the forward potion. Harry tested his theory, putting his finger directly in the fire ahead of them. He was not burned, and tentatively stepped forward. When he was not burned by it, he stepped through and opened the door. The others each stepped through and followed Harry through the door. It was time to face Dumbledore's test.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Forgive my asynchronous timeline, this won't match up exactly to the book. Sorry for the delay in posting, I've been up to my neck in things to do and haven't had much spare time to write.**

The six friends walked into the chamber, which, upon inspection, had no other door aside from the one through which they had entered. It was indeed the final chamber. The chamber was entirely bare except for the mirror that stood opposite them. The six carefully walked over to the mirror, expecting a trap, or something to suddenly appear in front of them. However, as they walked, nothing happened, keeping each of them on edge as they went. They continued forward until they had reached the mirror.

" _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_ ," read Harry, his eyes on the top of the mirror.

"Well, that's helpful," Theo commented snidely. "Probably a foreign language."

"Nope," said Daphne quickly. "Just English backwards."

"I show not your face but your heart's desire," said Hermione slowly.

"Um...how does this help get the stone?" Tracey asked.

No one answered, as no one knew the answer to that question. Hermione stood forward and took a look in the mirror and gasped. She stepped back, gesturing another forward. The other five looked at each other, and one after the other, looked into the mirror. As Harry stepped forward, he saw himself standing in the mirror. He wondered what it would show, as he himself did not know what would appear. Though he remained standing in the image, the rest of it changed. Harry saw the Dursleys' bodies lying on the ground at his feet, eyes blank as he laughed above them. The mirror Harry seemed to notice Harry then, and took a moment to stop laughing. Mirror-Harry winked at Harry, and reached into his pocket. Harry felt a sudden weight in his pocket and smiled slightly despite the image in the mirror. He took a step back, slightly disturbed by himself. He hadn't felt any revulsion or remorse looking in the mirror, though he had never believed he wanted the Dursleys dead. Harry wished them eternal pain in the fires of hell often, but death, he thought, was too kind for them.

"We're done here," Harry said as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a smooth red stone from his pocket and showed it to the others. Suddenly, as though the chamber had reacted to the appearance of the stone, a door materialized a little bit to the side of the mirror. Harry almost laughed at the simplicity of the tests. Surely it would be a problem for his brother and his perfect little trio, but for him and his group of Slytherins (plus Hermione), the tests were far from a challenge.

"Wonder if this is the real thing," Harry said, looking at the stone in his hand.

"I hope Dumbledore wasn't that stupid," Tracey responded. "But we can try to find out, we just need some metal."

"Let's get out of here first," Theo said.

The six trooped out through the door, finding themselves in an unused dungeon classroom. Now that the excitement was over, each realized how tired they were, and they headed to their dormitories quickly so as not to be caught.

The five Slytherins, however tired they were, did not sleep right away. Immediately, they entered the boys' room, and Blaise took a Knut from his wallet and tossed it to Harry.

"So how does this work?" Harry asked.

"Try touching it to the stone?" Daphne suggested. Harry did so, touching the stone to the bronze Knut. Daphne's intuition was immediately proven correct, the bronze Knut turning into gold. A collective gasp came from the five. The Knut looked exactly as it had before, but now it was solid gold, or at least appeared to be. It certainly was heavier than before, Harry noted. Excited, it took quite some time for each to fall asleep that evening.

The next morning as they entered the Great Hall, Hermione skipped up to Harry, and excitedly asked, "Did it work? Did it?"

Harry laughed at her excitement, and flipped a coin in the air in response. Hermione caught it with surprising ease. She examined it for a moment and then looked at Harry with a wild grin on her face.

The year continued, and their nighttime adventure went seemingly undiscovered. Their classes continued as they had, with Harry and Daphne still receiving top marks in the class and Hermione as a close third. Harry gained a reputation in the Slytherin common room as a unusually skilled duelist for his age after he defeated a Slytherin second-year challenger followed by a third-year challenger in friendly duels. The year passed quickly as a routine was established. The six would go to their classes and spend time in the library hanging around and studying afterward. At least once a day, Jason and his friends would insult them in the hallway, and for the most part, the remarks were ignored. A few times, a cold insult was sent right back at them, which would keep them away for the next few days. Harry was happy to hear from Ginny via letter, and they kept up their letters throughout the year. Quidditch season went on, and Slytherin easily took the victory over the second place Ravenclaw.

True to his word, Harry also began teaching Hermione the spell he had used to defeat the troll – the Killing Curse. All six of their group met at the abandoned dueling classroom they had found, and though none, Harry included, had any further success with the Killing Curse, they also practiced higher-level magic and dueling. At the end of the year, the Slytherins were excitedly gathered around the notice board in their common room. The upper years had decided to host a dueling tournament this year. The best duelists of the house would be invited to participate alongside a few randomly selected from an applicant pool. The next morning at breakfast, owls came to many students among the upper year Slytherins, which was not uncommon, but that day, they carried the awaited invitations for the dueling tournament. As had been promised, at least one student of each year had been invited, and after his impressive display against the third-year Matthias Yaxley, the first-years were not surprised to find that Harry Potter was the first-year invitee. The duels were to take place the weekend after exams, and all of Slytherin house was happily anticipating the duels. The exams went without a hitch for the Slytherins, though Harry heard Jason and Ronald loudly complaining about how the exams were much harder than the curriculum demanded.

The next day, the Slytherins gathered around the dueling ground in the common room to watch the tournament progress, many holding banners to support their favorite duelists. Many of the students from the lower years had unified to support Harry, though he was far from the favorite to win. Harry did cause quite the upset when he won his first round against fourth-year Janet Edgecombe. He went on to repeat his performance against Yaxley in the second round, but was promptly knocked out of the tournament by another fourth-year, Jessica Harrison, in the quarterfinals. The younger students cheered loudly regardless, through a combination of skill and luck in who he played, Harry was the only student under fourth year who made the top eight. Harry himself knew he had gotten very lucky, he would certainly have lost to a seventh-year had he needed to duel one in the first round.

At breakfast on Monday, Snape strode down from the staff table and walked to Harry.

"The headmaster would like to see you, Mr. Potter," Snape drawled. "Best be on your way."

Harry just muttered his thanks and stood up, walking to the gargoyle that guarded the headmaster's office. He noted then that Snape had not told him the password, but in the end it did not matter, as the gargoyle sprang aside to allow him entry. As Harry entered the office, he saw Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eye, staring back at Harry. Their talk was brief, as Harry was adamant that he would not return to the Dursleys for the summer, and Dumbledore readily agreed to allow him to remain at Potter Manor for the summer. As much as Harry disliked his family, he disliked the Dursleys more, and he figured that this way he would at least have a slim chance of seeing his friends over the summer.

Harry walked out with a slight spring in his step, convinced of the prospect of never having to return to the Dursleys again, and headed back down to the Slytherin common room with a smile on his face, a certainly new feeling for him, but not unwelcome in the slightest. The next few days passed in a blur, though Harry never wanted it to end. He finally felt at home in a place where he belonged, and he was reluctant to leave for the summer. His friends had promised him they would write and visit him and that Harry could even come visit them.

After retrieving the philosopher's stone and testing it multiple different ways, the six friends had also opened a secret account at Gringotts via owl post and started putting their newfound gold into it. The goblins asked no questions, as they had seen far stranger dealings than an eleven-year-old opening a bank account.

The day came, and the students of Hogwarts boarded the scarlet train to return home. Harry found a compartment with Theo and Blaise, and as they were among the first to board the train, they waited for the others to join them. Soon enough, Daphne and Tracey joined them, followed quickly by Hermione. They talked and laughed the whole ride home in comfortable companionship, each looking forward to the start of the summer.

"Did you notice Professor Quirrell was missing?" Hermione asked when they were almost back in London.

"Yeah," Daphne said, "but I didn't think much of it. He was probably afraid a student was a vampire or something."

"Hope he doesn't come back next year," Harry laughed. The others laughed and agreed, but no more was said on the topic.

Deep beneath the castle, Albus Dumbledore looked at the man across from him. He had been waiting for him to make an attempt at the stone all year. Of course, Dumbledore should have known that it would be during the feast, but it had slipped his mind. Luckily, Professor Quirrell had still been there after the feast ended. As Dumbledore walked towards the man, he activated a rune configuration he had laid with a swipe of his wand. A powerful dome encapsulated Quirrell, who then turned to face Dumbledore. He immediately started to try to magic his way out of the dome, but to no avail. A wraith, angered, exited the body of Quirrell, which was slowly beginning to disintegrate. The wraith attempted to fly through the dome in its misty form, but was repelled. Dumbledore summoned the wand from inside the dome and looked at it with satisfaction. Lord Voldemort was trapped, and would be forever until he could be killed by the Chosen One.

As they arrived at the station, the six said their goodbyes and departed, each heading for their respective parents or guardians. Harry joined his parents, and Jason followed a minute later. Each parent grabbed one arm of a child and they Disapparated to their vast manor. Their trunks had been sent to their rooms already, so there was no need to worry about those.

As the summer progressed, Harry noted that his parents did seem a bit colder to him at times, but appeared to making at least an effort towards him, allowing him to visit his friends and very occasionally, allowing some of his friends to visit as well. Theo and Blaise were not allowed to visit on account of who their parents were, but Harry often saw them at Daphne's or Tracey's, and he hadn't expected to be allowed to see them.

The one bother, as usual, was that the Weasleys were at Potter Manor almost every day, with the elder Weasleys, Ronald, and Jason playing Quidditch in the field very often. Despite being Slytherin's new star Seeker, Harry refrained from playing, which often led to cajoling from the Gryffindors. Harry, however, merely ignored them and went back to his reading. By the middle of the summer, he had already read through most of the fourth-year curriculum (having read ahead the previous year) and finished his summer work, and started attempting the new spells wandlessly as he had the previous year. When the Weasleys were over, Ginny would happily go to wherever he was studying and he would teach her the first-year curriculum and even some of the second-year material. Harry found it curious that just as he was able to, she could also perform wandless magic with relative ease after sometimes hours of practice. His research indicated that it should take far longer than that to master it, and it seemed a commonly known fact in the wizarding world. Ginny, he noticed, seemed to be the exception to this rule, not really noticing the supposed difficulty of what she did. Harry wondered idly if everyone could do that that easily if they really tried. Magic was simply based on intent, after all, and not believing in one's ability to perform said magic would definitely serve as a damper on intent, Harry reasoned.

Halfway through July, the Weasley matriarch seemed to realize that Ginny had been spending much of her time at Potter Manor with Harry, and was visibly upset. Harry had not heard any yelling or arguments, but he figured Ginny had been giving a stern talking to. Thus, it surprised him when he saw Ginny happily running into the room again.

"Thought you weren't allowed to talk to me?" Harry asked jokingly.

"Sure I am, I'm just not supposed to let you influence me or convince me into 'dark magic'," she replied.

"Huh, rather surprised they didn't ban you from coming here outright."

"Something about wanting to keep you here and on the light side, I think," Ginny said darkly.

"Right, forgot about that part," Harry laughed.

Harry and Ginny had become rather close friends through their communication the past year and now from Harry's lessons. Ginny had found that Harry did not see her as "the girl Weasley" but as Ginny, and he had no qualms about teaching her magic and skills that according to Mrs. Weasley, "she ought not to know." Ginny was happiest about the flying lessons Harry had occasionally given her when they could get away with it. Harry found in Ginny someone who was willing to see past the fact that he was the only Slytherin Potter. He was glad someone in the Weasley family could see beyond the green trim of his robes, as they were often the only company during the summer. He saw his friends still, but once a week at best, so it was nice to have someone to talk to on other days as well.

One day in the summer, Harry met his friends in Diagon Alley, preparing to get his textbooks. His parents had said they would go with the Weasleys, and had given him permission to roam free with his friends that day.

"Did anyone else look at the book lists?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, we've got the entire set of Lockhart books as our textbooks," Daphne groaned.

"Er, how many books is that exactly?" Harry asked.

"Well, we've got seven of them to buy," Tracey replied grimly. "And they're not exactly cheap. Lockhart's a popular guy."

"Easy enough, we'll each buy one and share those," Harry said determinedly. "We never use our texts in class anyway, so we'll just have to use the library or study together to finish the Defense assignments."

"Works for me, but that makes six books, not seven," Theo said.

"Who cares about the last one? We'll just take our chances," Harry smirked.

"But we can't just do that!" Hermione shrieked. "We'll need all of the books and..."

"Hermione, Harry's right," Daphne said. "If the teacher is teaching from Lockhart's books, they're incompetent anyway. The second-year Defense curriculum doesn't usually include yetis, vampires, or anything of the like, and even if it did, Lockhart's books are more like adventure fantasies than textbooks."

"Oh," Hermione said, looking down at the ground. "So there are other books better than Lockhart's?"

"Any book you pick off a shelf is a better textbook than Lockhart's novels, and that includes the random cookbooks everyone's got lying around," Blaise said, speaking up for the first time.

They walked down Diagon Alley and picked up their supplies for the year, depositing gold into their shared philosopher's stone vault first. The six had been left to their own devices, which in the wizarding world, was a fairly common practice in Diagon Alley. In times of peace, no one dared to try anything rash in the bright, public alley, and children knew not to wander into side alleys.

They bought their books quickly, one per person, avoiding the line for Lockhart's autographs by using a separate counter for those who just wanted their books. As they left, they saw a family of redheads along with Harry's family enter the building. The six snickered as they watched the looks of adoration cross the faces of the children and even some of the parents when they realized Gilderoy Lockhart was in the shop. The six had just stepped outside when a loud noise from inside Flourish and Blotts made them turn around. Inside the shop, Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy were brawling like common Muggles, punches thrown everywhere. As they were forcibly separated by James Potter, Harry noted that Malfoy had subtly dropped a slim black volume into the cauldron near Ginny along with the rest of Ginny's books, which he had ridiculed a moment earlier.

Daphne caught him staring at the cauldron and said, "So you caught it too?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised he risked trying that, the Weasleys didn't see him, but plenty of people are here," he replied.

Harry walked over to the cauldron and greeted Ginny.

"Hey, Ginny, I think Malfoy dropped something into your cauldron," Harry said. "Can I take a look?"

Ginny gave him a funny look, but nodded in the affirmative. Harry deftly separated the books in the cauldron and found what he was looking for. It was indeed a slim, black book, the type that he knew many wizards used as journals or diaries. Harry snatched it from the cauldron, as Ginny looked on.

"Is this yours?" Harry asked.

"Never seen it before," Ginny responded.

"Well, if Malfoy dropped it here, it can't be good news," Harry said. Mrs. Weasley and Lily had been trying to round up the children after the spectacle, and found Ginny talking to Harry as he pulled the book away from the cauldron.

"What do you think you're doing, taking a book from my daughter like that? And a diary, too!" Molly Weasley yelled.

"Sorry, ma'am, I just saw Lucius Malfoy drop it in her cauldron," Harry responded contritely.

"It's not mine, Mum," Ginny added helpfully. "Harry did see him drop it and found it."

Lily took it from Harry and examined it and opened it to the first page, and found a faint inscription which read "T. M. Riddle".

"I've never heard of him," Lily said quietly. "But it doesn't seem to belong to Malfoy either. James has got some friends in the records department, maybe we can figure out whose this is."

Although Harry had initially hoped to examine it himself, he didn't see a way to get it back now, and figured that this would be the next best thing.

"Well done, Harry, I'm glad you spotted it," Lily added at the end.

Harry nodded in response, quenching his initial reaction of happiness at the praise of his mother. He simply walked back over to his friends, who exited and headed toward Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Each ordered their ice cream and they sat down.

"So that's the youngest Weasley?" Tracey asked Harry teasingly.

"The one who's been writing to you all year?" Hermione added, smirking rather uncharacteristically.

"That's Ginny, yeah," Harry said. "And you can stop with the tone, I'm not interested in her or anyone like that."

Luckily enough for her, Harry was too busy with his ice cream to notice the smirks thrown by Tracey and Hermione in Daphne's direction, who turned a fierce shade of red.

"Anyway," Harry continued between bites, "I have no clue where she'll be sorted. That'll be fun to watch."

They talked for a while more about the upcoming year and left happily, each back to their own home, looking forward to September 1.

 **A/N: Some of you might say these events are really improbable. Just want to put a note here that I acknowledge that, and if you're not a fan of that, sorry, this fic will contain some improbability. To me, that's what fanfiction is, a place where I can explore the improbable. In any case, I also reasoned that Dumbledore had to have some reason for putting the stone in the castle, and hence the trap, but my Dumbledore doesn't have enough common sense to put sensors or something there, thinking he can figure out when Voldemort is there on his own. Thanks for reading all!**


	9. Chapter 9

Harry was giddy with excitement. He had Flooed to Tracey's house earlier in the day, as had Daphne, Theo, Blaise, and Hermione. The six had decided to spend some time together before heading to Kings' Cross that day. It was still early in the morning, but they were all ready to go. They spent a while talking, until they were called to eat some food before boarding the train. They ate their meal excitedly, happy to be heading back to school, and once they were finished, they practically bounced through the Floo to the platform. As was typical, they had arrived early, and they jumped onto the train, having earlier said their goodbyes to their parents. The six of them found a spacious compartment to themselves, and chatted away as the train pulled out of the station and continued along its journey. The compartment door soon opened again to admit Ginny, who immediately stopped upon seeing the others.

"Everywhere else is full," Ginny said shyly. "Could I sit here?" she asked, gesturing at an open spot. After receiving a few nods, she sat down next to Harry.

"Guys, this is Ginny Weasley," Harry said. "Ginny, that's Hermione, Blaise, Theo, Daphne, and Tracey," he said, pointing to them in turn, deliberately ignoring the last name convention of pureblood society.

"Hello," she said timidly. Hermione then quickly engaged her in conversation, and the old buzz of various conversations going on at once returned to the compartment. It continued like this for a bit, and the others found out much about Ginny, including the reason she did not sit anywhere else. She didn't know anyone aside from the Potters and a few friends of Ron's from his year, and she bitterly told them that her brother often seemed to forget she existed. Even Daphne, who had been somewhat cold to the girl thus far, couldn't keep up her charade, and found herself liking the girl after talking to her a bit after that.

The train arrived at Hogwarts, and after having told Ginny horror stories about the Sorting, the six wished her luck and rode in the carriages to the castle. They were all excited to witness their first Sorting, as the previous year, they had been the subjects of the attention.

"Bet you Ginny's in Ravenclaw," Tracey muttered to the others.

"She's not Gryffindor, that's for sure," Blaise responded.

"I think she'll join us," Theo said. "And I'll take your bet on that, Tracey. Let's say three galleons?"

"You're on," she responded.

"Woah, let me get in on this," Blaise responded. "I'll put three on Hufflepuff."

"Well, I have no doubt Astoria will get Slytherin," Daphne responded, laughing at the others' antics.

"Really, Daph? I had your sister down as a Ravenclaw," Harry said. Their talking ceased as Minerva McGonagall entered the hall with the first years in tow. She walked up to the stool, and picked up the scroll of names. The Sorting began, and the students watched enthusiastically and welcomed their new members with thunderous applause. A particularly excited boy, announced as "Creevey, Colin" tripped on his way to the Hat, but was promptly sorted into Gryffindor. The boy bounced to the table, looking like his feet were never on the ground.

"Greengrass, Astoria!" Professor McGonagall called.

Harry watched as Daphne's sister walked to the stool. He had only met her a few times, as she was often with her friends or studying on her own. He knew her to be a very soft-spoken person, but also a rather intelligent and studious girl. While Daphne claimed her to be the quintessential Slytherin, Harry was convinced she would be a Ravenclaw.

The Sorting Hat seemed to be in indecision all the same, and took a while sorting her. After a minute of deliberation, the hat yelled, "Ravenclaw!"

Harry gave Daphne a pointed look, which quite clearly said "I told you so." Daphne, meanwhile, looked like a fish as she watched her sister wave at her as she walked to the Ravenclaw table.

The Sorting proceeded, but ten minutes later, it was interrupted by Professor Snape billowing into the hall, Jason Potter and Ronald Weasley in tow. The two had their faces turned down, and took their seats in the hall. Snape muttered something to Dumbledore and to McGonagall, and then the Sorting was continued. Finally, Professor McGonagall called out, "Weasley, Ginevra."

Harry laughed quietly as he saw Ginny tense at the use of her full name, and pondered her house. He had heard the bet his friends had made before, but he had no clue where to place his money himself.

For its part, the Sorting Hat took much longer than it had on Astoria. Across the hall, Harry could see Ronald Weasley starting to look visibly nervous as his sister was not immediately made a Gryffindor. It was a long three minutes for the people of the Great Hall, and in fact, it was the longest Sorting in Hogwarts history. Finally, the Sorting Hat opened its brim and yelled, "Slytherin!"

Ginny, seeming satisfied with her fate, walked over to the table and sat herself down next to Tracey.

"Damn it, you just lost me three galleons, Ginny," Tracey said with no real menace as she handed the money over to Theo, Blaise reluctantly doing the same. Ginny just smiled an innocent smile in response.

Across the hall, one Ronald Weasley was looking positively murderous. On top of all that, his sister was smiling at the table. She was _smiling_ and didn't even have the decency to look upset about joining the bloody snakes! Oh, he would make sure his mother heard about this, all right, and Ginny would be returned to where she belonged, in the noble House of Lions with her noble brother. She wouldn't be stuck with Jason Potter's stupid little brother and his gang of slimy serpents.

"What happened to Jason and Ronald?" Harry asked suddenly as dinner was being eaten. "Why are they so scratched up?"

"I've no idea," Ginny said. "I got to the platform and boarded the train first of my siblings, he went last with Jason."

The subject dropped, and soon after, they were all too full to bother worrying about it that day. Dumbledore ended with his usual speech on the Forbidden Forest and pranking, looking at the Weasley twins as he did, and dismissed them all. As usual, the Slytherins followed the fifth-year Prefect to the common room, and the first-years looked around in awe at the surprisingly bright room and the neighboring dueling grounds.

In Slytherin, students could pick the rooms they wanted, and as Tracey and Daphne still had a few beds open in theirs, they offered Ginny one of them, and she happily accepted. The rules had been altered that year to allow changes in arrangements mid-year, so Ginny could always switch rooms after she made friends in her year.

As it turned out, she very quickly did make friends within her year. Unlike the second years, who were divided between Harry and Draco, the first years all got along very well within the first few days, and the house was as welcoming to Ginny as they had been to Harry. Observing this, Harry wondered why the majority of British Dark Lords and their followers had been Slytherin alumni. Even among the general population of Slytherin, there was very little anti-Muggle sentiment. With the exception of people like Draco Malfoy and his goons, who had a holier-than-thou attitude anyway, Slytherins didn't mind Muggles or Muggleborns, and many of them had even attempted to make the more recent Muggle innovations work in the wizarding world, to minimal success. It had been a Slytherin who had found a way to combine magic and the radio, as it turned out.

Harry walked with his friends to his first Defense class of the year. As it turned out, Gilderoy Lockhart himself was to be their professor this year, after Dumbledore had explained of Quirrell's tragic end by heart attack.

As they entered the classroom, Harry looked around and saw Lockhart everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. There were portraits, pictures, newspaper clippings, anything with his name or face on it. As they all sat down, the man himself confidently strode into the classroom. He introduced himself, most of the students rolling their eyes, and Lockhart then proclaimed his quiz. Harry took one look it, looked at Theo, who sat next to him, with an evil grin matching Theo's, and began his work.

Lockhart collected the quizzes and began to look through them, looking disappointed. "Tut tut, hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is..." he trailed off, gaping at a quiz he had come across.

"Oh my, Mr. Nott, I'm afraid this will be five points from Slytherin and a detention for you," he said. "And you too, Mr. Potter. Er, Harry Potter," he quickly clarified, quelling the rising protest from Jason.

"Why, sir? I haven't done anything wrong," Harry said meekly.

"Look at this quiz!" Lockhart said thunderously. "You call this not doing anything wrong?"

"I read the answers in a book, sir, so I assumed they were correct. I don't know the correct answers."

"Well, your answers were certainly not in _Year with a Yeti_ , I can assure you that," Lockhart said. "But if you really did not know, I suppose I'll have to revoke your detentions." Lockhart then proceeded to regale the students with tales of his adventures, dispersing the information in the quiz as he told the clearly exaggerated stories. However, when Harry looked around, he realized that the non-Slytherin students in the room were taking it all in, seemingly honored to be in the presence of such a "great" man. Only the Slytherins held on to their naturally dubious nature. Lockhart had not done anything of note to prove his greatness, after all, not that they had seen.

"Now," Lockhart concluded, "I have brought today with me the most dangerous of creatures." He threw the cover off of the cage on the desk in the front and announced, "Cornish pixies!"

The Slytherins struggled to contain their laughter at the description of a common wizarding pest as dangerous. Harry saw Hermione roll her eyes, having encountered pixies in the basement of Greengrass Manor over the summer. Hermione must have thought very little of Lockhart, as Harry had never known her to roll her eyes at any sort of authority figure, especially a professor.

Without warning, Lockhart opened the cage, letting the pixies loose.

"No worries," he yelled over the commotion. "I have just the spell. _Peskipiksi Pesternomi!_ " The spell, unsurprisingly, did not have any effect, and Lockhart ran to his office, telling the students to take care of it. Daphne gave a loud, theatrical sigh, and started to freeze the pixies. Harry, Blaise, Theo, Tracey, and Hermione all joined in as their fellow classmates watched, their pixie catching soon turning into a friendly competition. After a few minutes, the last stray pixie was caught, and the cries of " _Immobilus_ " had vanished from the air.

Blaise held it in his hand triumphantly and declared, "I win!" The last pixie had broken a tie between Blaise and Hermione, who until then had caught ten pixies apiece. Hermione surprised them all by sticking her tongue out at Blaise, who just laughed harder and made a face back at her.

"Well, that was fun, I vote we leave," Harry said.

"Class isn't over yet, we still have another fifteen minutes," Hermione pointed out.

"Who cares? It's not like that bastard can teach us anything," Harry said in response, promptly picking up his bag and walking out. The Slytherins, unsurprisingly, agreed, and slowly followed him out the door. To the immense surprise of the Gryffindors, Hermione also just seemed to consider Harry's statement, shrugged, and then left without a word to them. Lockhart came back five minutes later and arrived to find half of the class missing.

"So," Harry said as they walked away from the Defense classroom. "We're going to need to study Defense on our own this year."

"We can just use the classroom we used last year," Hermione said happily, having enjoyed their study time last year.

"Agreed," Theo responded. "I wonder what would happen if we skipped his class."

"Maybe Monday?" Harry asked seriously. "But we probably can't do it that often, or we'll get expelled or something."

The six of them took their time walking back so that when they arrived in the Great Hall, dinner had officially begun. Ginny joined the Slytherins at their table, and they ate their dinner quickly, talking and laughing throughout the meal. The whole time, they never noticed a glare from the Gryffindor table observing them the whole time. Ronald Weasley looked as though he wished to burn holes into Harry's head, which he did, in fact, wish to do, though he'd rather not kill anyone. That aside, it was all Harry's fault that Ginny was a Slytherin, wearing green and silver instead of the red and gold she should be wearing. He had written to his mother about it already and was gleefully awaiting the angry letter his mother would undoubtedly send Ginny. Perhaps Harry would get one too, Ron thought, and then he would be humiliated in front of his precious snakes.

After dinner, the six friends headed to their abandoned dueling classroom, with Ginny tagging along with them. Harry had already taught some of the first-year curriculum to her, but the six decided to teach her first-year Defense throughout the year, as Lockhart surely wouldn't be doing it.

While they were studying, Harry remembered something he had wanted to try, and he quickly called everyone.

"Hey, guys," Harry said. "Just a random thought, but what do you know about wandless magic?"

"It looks really cool," Theo said, "but apparently it's a pain to learn." The others nodded their assent, but Ginny seemed confused at the latter half of Theo's statement.

"It's not that bad," Ginny said. "Who told you that?"

"I mean, it's not covered until the end of seventh year," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "And even then, not everyone manages it. Quite the opposite, I've heard often there are years where no one can do it."

Harry sighed and said, "But Ginny's right. There's something fishy about the whole thing."

"Well, go on, if wandless magic is so easy, why don't you try it?" Hermione asked him tauntingly.

He shrugged, but before he could do anything, Ginny smirked and waved her hand for effect. Hermione's chair lifted itself off the ground, and she let out a shriek. The chair slowly lowered itself to the ground, Hermione glaring at Ginny.

"No way that was by hand, you've just started first year!" Theo said.

Harry and Ginny alternately showed them the various wandless spells they could perform.

"Magic's about intent," Harry said. "So as long as you clearly know the effects, you shouldn't need a wand, really, the magic is in you. And you know the effects of each spell, so just concentrate on that. It's that simple. And when you've got your mind around that one, the logic works the same for incantations. Why use them at all? The only limitation is that you have to really want it for it to work, and that's where wands come in. From what I've read, they help to reduce that effect so that you can use magic more easily, free from emotion."

Indeed, it proved to be that simple. By the end of their study sessions, all of them could cast wandless and wordless levitation charms, as well as a few other basic ones. Each of them resolved to practice it, and they decided it was best to keep it quiet for the time being. Harry's reasoning for this had been that as the solution was in fact so simple, brilliant minds like Dumbledore must have come upon it. Hence, there was a reason it was portrayed as difficult, though it was apparently nothing negative, as the only disclaimer when it was taught was that it would be hard and might not work. The others agreed, and they headed back to their common rooms before curfew.

Back in his bed, Harry took out his most recent book and began reading. The Transfiguration required was advanced for his standards, and he knew it would take some effort to learn it, but he was sure he could. Harry hadn't expected becoming an Animagus to be easy, after all.

The next morning was a weekend, and the school took their time in waking up. Harry, always up early, read his book in his bed, waiting for his dormmates to wake up. An hour and a half later, they were all ready and headed down for breakfast, where they met the girls, who had also just entered the Hall. They ate in the tired silence that was typical of mornings until everyone shook the last vestiges of sleep away. As usual, a flapping of wings was heard as the owls delivered the post for the morning, many students receiving the _Daily Prophet_.

Ronald Weasley looked over at the Slytherin table as the owls approach and gleefully watched an owl deposit a bright red letter in front of his sister. He smiled as he watched the small conversations at the table stop, everyone warily eyeing the letter.

Ginny picked up the letter in her hands and sighed. She had known this was coming, and was frankly surprised it hadn't happened sooner. All around her, her classmates gave her looks of sympathy, telling her to listen to it and laugh it off. Ginny tapped her foot, waiting for it to explode into the furious voice of her mother.

"GINEVRA WEASLEY!" the letter yelled. "How DARE you consort with these horrible SNAKES? You should know better than to let yourself be put there! You must demand a re-Sorting right now, young lady, do you hear me? Right! Now!"

The letter then rounded on Harry, almost as if it knew he would be there, and shouted, "And YOU! How DARE you DEFILE my daughter with your dark magic! You did something to her, I know it! My Ginny would never be a Slytherin, ever! I want you on trial for corrupting my daughter with evil magic! I want you to STAY AWAY from my daughter!"

The letter promptly exploded in a display of fireworks to a stunned and silent Great Hall. Slowly, a clapping emerged from the silence.

"Bravo!" Harry clapped. "Good show! I only wish I'd gotten one for myself!"

The Slytherin table laughed and began clapping and whooping wildly, clapping Harry on the back. Many of the older girls went to Ginny to make sure she was okay as well, which caught Ginny unawares. A Slytherin she might be, but she still had thought that most of the Slytherins in other years were distant and cold. Ginny broke out into a smile, and happily started chatting with some of the girls as though the incident had never happened.

From the Gryffindor table, Ronald Weasley looked onto the scene, a flabbergasted expression on his face.

"They can't just…they…" he trailed off.

"I know, it's so disrespectful," Jason Potter completed.

"They can't just ignore it!" Ron muttered angrily.

"We'll tell Dumbledore, he'll make sure the investigation happens!" Jason said. And so it was that after breakfast, they approached Dumbledore and asked to speak with him. Dumbledore smiled and beckoned them to his office.

"Now, what is it you boys would like to talk to me about?" he asked kindly.

"You're going to investigate Harry Potter, right?" Ronald blurted out.

"Why should I do that, my boy?" Dumbledore asked.

"Ginny can't have been a Slytherin without him doing something," Jason said strongly.

"My boy, if Ginny's mind had been tampered with, the Sorting Hat would have found it and reported it to me immediately. The Sorting Hat is an ancient object and cannot be hoodwinked so easily."

"Oh," Jason said, dumbfounded.

"Can you resort Ginny then?" Ronald asked.

"One can only be resorted in certain extreme cases, my boy, and none of them apply here. Your sister is happy in Slytherin."

"Oh," Ronald replied dejectedly.

The two boys left the office angrily plotting revenge on a certain raven-haired, green-eyed boy.

 **A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone! Things are picking up speed now, and the years are going to start flying! This is pretty much all of year 2 in a nutshell, and I plan on finishing it in the next chapter. As you no doubt noticed, all of the action was resolved before with the discovery of the diary. I personally find it inconceivable that Lucius Malfoy managed to sneak an extra book there without _anyone_ realizing it.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: priestessedgecombe: Y** **eah, Harry in my story kinda just let it drop, but there's more on that later. Lily and James are definitely off, but again, more on that in later chapters, though to be honest I hadn't given their attitude _too_ much thought. As for Sirius, well...keep reading and that's answered very soon!  
** **bookaddict19: That solution is great, love the allergy idea, but I decided on something a little more practical for Harry. Hope you enjoy!**

That evening, Jason Potter confidently strode over to the Slytherin table, and stopped in front of Harry.

"I challenge you to a wizard's duel," Jason spoke regally and arrogantly. Harry looked up at him, amused.

"Why?" Harry asked simply.

"That's obvious, you bloody snake!" Ronald yelled from behind Jason.

"Oh, so my brother's doing this for you. I'm not really fond of beating people up, but if you insist, I'll accept," Harry replied, smiling dazzlingly.

Jason spluttered at the insult, but once he'd recovered enough, he said, "Ron will be my second. Meet us at midnight today in the abandoned classroom in the Charms corridor."

"Very well, give me a moment to choose my second." After some discussion among the members of the Slytherin group, Harry turned back around and smiled strangely. "My second will be Ginny. Good day and see you at midnight." With that, he turned around and continued talking to his friends, Ginny smiling at her brother mischievously. Ron gulped, as the look in her eyes gave everything away. It was a look of pure anger. She was not happy with him despite her grin, and Ronald had been on the receiving end of that anger more times than he wanted to remember.

The rest of the evening passed quickly, and at last, it was time for the duel, and Harry and Ginny walked out of the common room quietly. Harry was used to sneaking around at night, and Ginny had learned fairly quickly how to be quiet growing up in a house that constantly creaked. They arrived at the abandoned classroom at midnight precisely and found the two Gryffindor boys waiting. Harry knew that due to the paintings on the walls, they had very little time before Mrs. Norris or Filch came for them. Jason stepped forward, evidently itching to begin the duel. To the surprise of the two Gryffindor boys, it was not Harry, but Ginny who stepped forward to begin the duel. Harry just smirked and watched. Ginny, as had been planned, simply cast multiple _Stupefy_ spells as quickly as possible at Jason, who stood watching them, mouth agape. He had not expected this barrage of higher-level spells from his brother, much less a first-year. He tried to jump out of the way as he came back to his senses, but he could not get out of the way on time, and slumped to the ground. Harry and Ginny exchanged a high-five and quickly left the classroom, being sure to take a different route back to the common room, just as planned. They arrived in the common room once more without incident, and fell asleep quickly.

They entered the Great Hall the next day to the sight of the Slytherins jeering at the Gryffindors, and two Gryffindors sitting exiled at one end of the table. Gryffindor had lost one hundred points the previous evening for two students being out of bed after curfew in an abandoned Charms classroom rather far from their dormitories, one of them unconscious. Jason and Ronald had told a story about Harry Potter stunning them, of course, but there had been no evidence of it, as memories were not typically viewed for such incidents. Nonetheless, Harry was called to a meeting with Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall after breakfast. He entered McGonagall's office and sat down across from her and Professor Snape, who was standing a bit further back.

"Hello, Professor," Harry greeted cordially.

"Mr. Potter, I trust you know why you have been asked here?"

"I do not, as it turns out," Harry replied smoothly.

"Well, you have been accused of stunning your brother unprovoked, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall replied.

"I did no such thing," Harry responded, and for the first time noted a glass ball on McGonagall's desk. He had read about these objects, and knew they were used to detect lies. Luckily for Harry, he had not in fact stunned his brother. Professor McGonagall seemed disappointed at the lack of a change in the ball.

"You have no reason to suspect Mr. Potter," Snape spoke from his corner. "I would suspect a Slytherin prank to be much subtler than this. I believe Potter and Weasley were experimenting with spells they should not have, and refuse to tell anyone that."

"The paintings insist they saw more students around there at the time," McGonagall replied.

"Minerva, you and I both know this school is full of teenage couples. I'm sure you would rather not know what they get up to at night. The paintings report students out of bed every day, and I'm sure Mr. Potter here is not involved. He is far too young to be roaming the castle without being caught by Filch or that godforsaken cat. The paintings never gave an identity, after all."

McGonagall sighed, as if she and Snape had gone over this multiple times already, and reluctantly let Harry go, Snape leaving with him.

As they walked, Professor Snape looked at Harry and said softly, "You didn't actually do that, did you?"

Harry considered him carefully, and then lightly said, "Of course not, sir. It's just as you said." Snape only nodded in response, and walked toward his office at a quicker pace, leaving Harry to go to his classes for the day.

Jason and Ronald continually attempted their revenge plots for the remainder of the year, but never succeeded. Harry knew that his immunity from the Weasley twins' pranks was well worth it now, though they did not seem to take much issue with Ginny's sorting in the first place. The seven friends continually met throughout the year to teach themselves Defense Against the Dark Arts, and eventually it was noticed that those seven were better at cleaning up Lockhart's messes than most in their years. Some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs from a myriad of years, who had less problems with Slytherin, asked Harry and his friends to tutor them, and they willingly taught anyone who asked in the abandoned Charms classroom where they had had their "duel" with Jason. The group grew and grew, until it contained almost every second-year and most first-years, as well as a good amount of third-years and a few fourth-years. The group had become an almost formal study group, in which everyone helped out everyone else. Even the Gryffindors who were less invested in the house rivalry joined the study group, and everyone was very happy to meet new people. It left a noticeable effect on the school, with relations between Gryffindors and Slytherins becoming less and less strained. A select few, such as Draco Malfoy and his goons in Slytherin and the Golden Trio of Gryffindor, refused to join the group because of the rivalry, but they were now the clear minority.

At every meeting of the study group, a few students, usually the older ones, would teach a lesson to the younger ones, usually in a lacking subject like Defense Against the Dark Arts. Many of the lessons for the younger years were taught by Harry and his group of friends as well, and they were looked up to as the leaders and founders of this remarkably united group. This joint study group effort did not go unnoticed by the Professors, and was even brought to Dumbledore's attention. Many members of the study group began to skip Defense Against the Dark Arts after this, instead meeting in their unofficial classroom to learn from a student of a higher year or from a bright student in their year. There were usually around two of these teachers per year, and the fact that work was actually being done caused students of fifth-year and higher to join, too, if only for use of the classroom for their own lessons. The "teachers" in each year came from various Houses, and contrary to the status quo, there was nothing bad said against them and were very well-respected by all. Harry taught his year jointly with Hermione in Defense Against the Dark Arts, the first time in many years that a Slytherin worked willingly with a Gryffindor. There were even tutors and teachers for subjects that were taught well at Hogwarts in case students were struggling. The end results of this group in just a few weeks was staggering. The rankings shifted dramatically, pushing the members of the group from often lower ranks to higher ranks than they had ever achieved. The average grades of students at Hogwarts in general hit a record high. The group were even featured in the _Daily Prophet_ after that particular milestone, and were named the Inter-House Study Organization, or IHSO, in the article. They adopted the name, and

Interestingly, none of the professors said anything about the frequent skipping of Defense Against the Dark Arts. On the contrary, many students were often exempted by the professors from Lockhart's detentions. The students not in the IHSO were the only ones who went to the lessons, making the average turnout around fifty percent for older students and as low as ten percent for the younger students.

Jason, while he never spoke directly to Harry, was visibly angry at Harry's newfound fame in the school and even within the British magical community at large. Harry was being credited by all with the formation of this unprecedented study group, though he insisted his friends be included as founders.

The year passed quickly, and before they knew it, the end of year feast was upon them. Dumbledore spoke his usual speech, and then launched into his preamble about the House Cup. It was awarded that year to Slytherin for the ninth year straight, but to the surprise of the professors, there were not many Slytherins cheering. Draco Malfoy, of course, stood and yelled and threw his hat, as did a few others. However, the great majority simply sat in their seats and waited for the few to stop yelling. As they did, Jonas Rosier stood and began to speak.

"This may be far out of tradition, but this year, the leadership of Slytherin House has decided that the title of House Cup Champions will be shared among all the Hogwarts Houses. This year, we have shown to the world that we are not defined by the colors we wear, and that everyone is equal to us. As a sign of this progress, we wish to share with our brothers and sisters the House Cup. Congratulations to the students of Hogwarts for a great year, and good luck to the seventh-years. We will miss you next year!"

At the end of his speech, the Great Hall erupted in cheers. A few seventh-years pointed their wands at the Slytherin banners decorating the hall as planned and transformed them into banners bearing the crest of Hogwarts. The cheers kept going, and did not stop for another two minutes, as Dumbledore watched with curiosity. He had never believed that the wizarding world could be united, and his plan had been based on that fact. No matter, it would work regardless. His plans were too masterful and cunning for a simple dilemma like this to avert them entirely, at least in his mind.

When they had calmed down, the feast began, everyone chatting happily. In the commotion, people had switched tables to sit with their friends from other houses, and for a change, no one seemed to care. The competitive spirit between houses in things like Quidditch was still there, of course, but the poisonous rivalries of the past were fading into memory. Slytherin had also won the Quidditch Cup that year in an intense game against Gryffindor in the finals. Harry did not particularly like his brother, but he would willingly admit that he was a great Seeker after training for many years. Harry had still caught the Snitch in the end, but Jason had gotten very close.

Soon, the feast was over and everyone went to bed for their last night at Hogwarts. The next morning, they boarded the scarlet Hogwarts Express to go home. Harry was going to stay with his family once more, although he would try to spend more time with his friends that year. He laughed the whole way back on the train, greatly enjoying his time with Daphne, Tracey, Blaise, Theo, Hermione, and Ginny, and even got to know a second-year Ravenclaw, Lisa Turpin, a little better. She had been one of the most vocal advocates for the IHSO at its inception, and she had become closer to Harry and the others in the year.

When they arrived on the platform, they said their goodbyes and headed to their respective families. Harry noted that Ginny was welcomed a little more coldly by her mother, but still much warmer than expected. Ginny was still her daughter, after all, and Harry hoped that the news of house unity had helped assuage the Weasley matriarch's fears. Harry and Jason were Apparated back to Potter Manor with their things, which were quickly brought up to their rooms. They talked with their parents for a bit, who Harry noted were unsurprisingly against the idea of the IHSO. James, at least, seemed to share Jason's mindset that working with "the enemy" was the greatest sin of them all. Lily seemed more amenable to the idea, though Harry could tell she wasn't entirely in agreement either. Through all of this, they seemed not to notice that Harry was right there, and he was the perceived founder of the group.

"Oh, Harry," Lily said suddenly. "We gave that book you found to the Department of Mysteries. Turns out you pretty much saved Ginny from something awful, it's tainted with evil magic. The Unspeakables haven't been able to figure out how to get it out yet, but they're getting closer."

Harry nodded at the news, wondering what the diary contained. He didn't miss a strange note in Lily's voice, and Harry was shocked to recognize it as pride. He easily dismissed it, thinking it pride at something or someone else, but it kept nagging him at the back of his mind. As the summer went on, it turned out to be very much like the previous summer. His summer work had been completed at school with the IHSO, so he had nothing to do in terms of work. He kept working through higher-level textbooks, and was confident that between the IHSO training of last year and this summer, he could master O.W.L.-level magic by the end of the summer, both wandless and with a wand. The fifth through seventh years had been only too happy to teach Harry higher level magic when he demonstrated that he had the aptitude to practice it, and he had learned much from the older IHSO members.

Mrs. Weasley's attitude toward Harry had changed after learning that he had saved her daughter from unspeakably evil magic, and was now rather willing to allow them time together, and even allowed her daughter to visit the Greengrasses with Harry, as Ginny had become good friends with Astoria over the course of the year. They went often, and it was a normal sight to see many upcoming second-years and third-years in Greengrass Manor. They received their book lists, and were happy to note that Lockhart's books were once again listed there. Though they were glad that they could continue their IHSO teaching in place of Lockhart's classes, they found it hilarious that the incompetent Gilderoy Lockhart would be the one to break the supposed curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. Their end of year exam results were mailed as well along with the average results of each exam. Harry had obtained a record-breaking number of perfect scores on the second-year end of term exams, having obtained the coveted O+ mark in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, and History of Magic. He had received an O in Herbology and Astronomy, missing a perfect score by a few points. His friends had received similar marks, almost entirely O marks, with a few Exceeds Expectations scattered across the board. That day, Harry heard his parents demanding that Jason bring his grades up. Jason had received an O in Charms and Transfiguration, and an E in everything else but Potions. He had scored an Acceptable in Potions, which was not graded by Professor Snape, so therefore could not be blamed on his grading. The average grade for Defense had shockingly been an O, as had the grade for Charms, while it had been an E for all other subjects.

In an office kilometers away, a shade of a once powerful wizard contemplated his prison. He had of course tried every possible method of escape he could conceive in the year he had been imprisoned, but to no avail. The dome was heavily warded and guarded, and he had not managed to escape as of yet. But that evening, the shade realized something so simple he would have slapped himself in the head had he had a body. The shade flew downward as fast as possible and straight through the floor. The fool Albus Dumbledore had thought to make a powerful dome to contain him, but had not thought of the floor as a possible exit. Lord Voldemort had escaped, and was once again loose in the world.

Even farther away, on an island surrounded in mist and guarded by mysteries, a ragged-looking man laughed as an ethereal voice called to him. The awful remembrances of things past did not affect him any more, he knew he had done no wrong. The voice guided him as the man's form slowly shifted from that of a man to that of an equally ragged looking dog. The skinny dog slipped easily out of the cell as a guard opened it to deliver the meager rations for the day. The guard looked around, not seeing the most dangerous man in the prison. The hair on his neck stood on end as he turned around, and saw a man with wild hair and a crazed smile behind him. The red light that emitted from the guard's wand in the wild man's hand was the last thing he saw before waking up hours later. The deranged man ran about the prison, opening doors with reckless abandon, though he knew precisely whose doors they were. His fellow inmates and he had had plenty of reasonable discussion over the years, as they, too, were unaffected by the paranormal guardians of the prison. The news spread quickly after that, the world on high alert. Azkaban's most dangerous inmate, Sirius Black, had escaped with all of his friends.

 **A/N: Please leave me your thoughts!**


	11. Chapter 11

Harry's summer had gone well until the news of the breakout of several of Voldemort's followers from the first war. Sirius Black, widely regarded as the most dangerous man alive, had stunned a guard and freed his fellow prisoners, who were only slightly less dangerous. Bellatrix Lestrange, who had tortured a family into insanity, and Antonin Dolohov, one of Voldemort's duelling powerhouses, had escaped among other Death Eaters. Harry and Jason were sat at the table the day after the breakout and told all about their family's history with Black, including the fact that he was Harry's godfather. Remus Lupin, the man who had shown Harry around Diagon Alley for the first time, was Jason's godfather. He came to visit the Potters on occasion, though Harry did not interact very much with him. They were told about Black's status as an Animagus, as was the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The two adults ensured Harry and Jason that Hogwarts and Hogsmeade were the safest places imaginable, and so had no reservations about letting them go. However, they became more worried about Harry's ties to people like Theo Nott, whose father had been locked in Azkaban with Black, though they did not voice this openly to Harry.

The rest of the summer passed as it had normally, but with more tension in the air than previously. The students were no longer allowed to roam Diagon Alley by themselves, much to the annoyance of Harry and his friends. As quickly as summer had come, it was over, and the magical students of Hogwarts were boarding the scarlet engine that would take them to the castle. On the way to the school, many students stopped by the compartment where Harry and his friends sat to ask whether or not the IHSO would continue, which Harry enthusiastically affirmed. Harry had big plans for the IHSO, though he had not revealed them to anyone yet. He had continued to teach his friends wandless magic, though they had yet to teach the other members of the IHSO, though Harry thought he might do so at an older age. However, he told his friends now of his most recent plans. Harry had noted that there were many more people at Hogwarts who wished to participate in Quidditch but could not due to the talent of a select few of each House, and therefore wished to instead form their own Quidditch league with many more teams. His friends seemed surprised at the idea, but thought it was a great one, as many more people could participate in magical Britain's biggest sport.

They arrived at the castle, and each House separated to their tables to welcome the new first-years. Each House naturally still had its competitive spirit and cheered loudly for each new first-year that was Sorted into their House. The Houses were like family, after all, and they weren't to be dismissed entirely. As the feast finished, all the students left to their common rooms, chattering happily. That year, Ginny had decided to share a room with her yearmates rather than staying with the older girls, so Daphne and Tracey said their goodbyes to the rest as they approached their room.

A routine was quickly established again, everything very much as it was the previous years. The first-years quickly learned that they did not need to attend Lockhart's lessons so long as they attended the lessons provided by the Inter-House Study Organization, which most of them did. The big news of the first week was that Harry Potter, the almost legendary Slytherin Seeker, had plans to resign from the team to form an unofficial IHSO Quidditch league. The idea was quickly supported by many of the current Hogwarts Quidditch players, a group which included all four current Quidditch captains, and gained immense support from a base of students who wished to play Quidditch but were deemed not good enough for their House teams. With all the support, the unofficial league was announced within the week, and resignations from House teams started in waves. Hufflepuff captain Cedric Diggory was the first captain to withdraw his position, and following this, everyone on the Quidditch teams bar three players resigned. Gryffindor Seeker Jason Potter was, as expected, unwilling to resign, and was made the de facto captain, as he was the only player remaining. In addition to this, a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw player had also refused to resign, and thus new teams for each House were being drafted, and a new Slytherin captain was to be selected to begin tryouts. The new Inter-House Quidditch League's rules were posted the day after, along with sign-ups for the league, with a statement stating that team captains would be chosen in the next week, the number of captains being determined by how many people signed up. Its most important rule, however, was that a team could consist of members of different Houses, and need not be separated. The new league was all that was talked about for the next week, but despite that, each House had managed just enough support to reform their teams.

At the end of the week, the entire castle seemed to sit in anticipation of the announcement of the Quidditch captains. Soon, the announcement went up, and everyone crowded around it in their common rooms. There had been around 100 people who signed up, which was somewhere around a third of the school. The players were to be divided into 10 teams of seven plus three reserves per team, to be chosen by draft after a general tryout. Each of the four original Quidditch captains were made captains, those being Adrian Pucey for Slytherin, Oliver Wood for Gryffindor, Cedric Diggory for Hufflepuff, and Roger Davies for Ravenclaw. The other six captain slots were then filled by Graham Montague (Slytherin), Alicia Spinnet (Gryffindor), Cho Chang (Ravenclaw), Heidi Macavoy (Hufflepuff), and Fred Weasley (Gryffindor). The general tryout was scheduled to be in two weeks, and then the teams would be chosen by the captains and released in a similar manner as to how the captains' names had been released. The teachers of course had heard of this newfound league, but there were no rules against recreational Quidditch matches and by extension no rules against an informal Quidditch league. However, to the teachers' great irritation, all the students could talk about in the coming weeks was the IHSO and its Quidditch league. The name Harry Potter was often heard in the hushed whispers of conversation, and had soon been elevated to a legendary status within the school, despite the fact that he was only a third-year.

Things were going very well for Harry, and he wasn't immune to the hype of the new Quidditch league. Harry, though he had been part of the committee who chose the captains, had declined the captaincy himself, wishing it to go to older students. He therefore had no idea which team he was to be drafted on, but knew that he was a heavy favorite to be first pick. The only reason that he was not the clear favorite was the diminished importance of the Snitch in the game. All of the leaders of the league had jointly agreed that the Snitch in modern Quidditch was far too valuable, particularly for school games, and had for that reason downgraded it to a one hundred point catch from 150. While this did not seem to make an extraordinary difference, Quidditch often boiled down to those extra fifty points, and while having a good Seeker was important, they hoped it would balance the teams far more this way.

The day finally came for the tryout, and everyone flew their best under the watchful eye of the captains. That evening, a poster went out, proudly displaying the names and rosters of the new Quidditch teams. They had all been named for gemstones, and Harry could now proudly claim to be a part of Heidi Macavoy's Emerald team. As it turned out, he had been the first pick, as the paper also displayed each team's first pick. Harry was not surprised to see that Fred Weasley's Ruby team had picked George Weasley first round. Another top contender for first pick, former Gryffindor Chaser Katie Bell, had been quickly snatched by Cho Chang's Sapphires. Harry's new Emerald teammates were from a variety of Houses. Grant Page, the former Ravenclaw Keeper, was the only other Hogwarts Quidditch veteran on the team aside from Harry and Heidi, the captain. Victoria Jackson from Gryffindor and Raj Patil of Ravenclaw rounded out the Chaser lineup with Macavoy, and Theo Nott and Liam Beckett of Hufflepuff were drafted as the starting Beaters. Harry was looking forward to his time with the Emerald team, especially when he saw that he would be playing with Theo. Their first practice was soon after, and everyone, including the three reserve players, Hestia Stevens from Hufflepuff, Ricky Harbinger from Ravenclaw, and Claire Ashwood from Slytherin, enjoyed it greatly. The reserves began learning more of each position, in case they had to stand in in an emergency or play as a substitute. There would be many more games in this league, with each team playing one another twice for a total of 18 games a team before playoffs. The first game of the season was to be in a week, with another four games happening the same day. The Emerald team was to open against Cedric Diggory's Opal team, which became the talk of the castle along with the lessons of the IHSO itself.

The day of the game came, and Harry trudged into the Great Hall in his green Emerald team jacket. The other players who were playing today were wearing a myriad of jackets, too. Harry spotted a few of the almost purple Amethyst jackets, deep blue Sapphires, the red Rubies, and the white jackets of their Opal opponents. Harry laughed out loud at the anger visible on Jason's face. Almost everyone had a scarf or hat in the color of their favorite team, but he was still stubbornly wearing red and gold. After breakfast, the students ran out to the pitch, and all cheered wildly as Lee Jordan began his usual commentary. Harry looked around and saw Daphne and saw Daphne in the stands, wearing green in support of her two friends. Daphne caught his eye and smiled at him shyly. Blaise and Tracey both wore the yellow of Oliver Wood's Topaz team, as Tracey was on that team and would play later in the day, and Ginny wore the red of her brother's team, onto which she had been drafted. Hermione couldn't decide whom to support and simply wore all of the colors.

"Welcome to the inaugural match of the Inter-House Quidditch League! To open the league, we have the Emerald team, led by captain Heidi Macavoy, playing against Cedric Diggory's Opal team. And here are the Emeralds! We've got Jackson, Patil, Nott, Beckett, Page, Potter, and captain Macavoy!" The crowd cheered wildly as the green-clad team flew a lap around the pitch. "Early betters have them among the favorites to win the first Cup," Lee continued. "Potter, the star Seeker, was drafted first round and I'm sure we won't be disappointed, but the rest of the team is rumored to be very solid, especially with veteran Macavoy leading the team! And here are the Opals, today's challengers and yet another strong contender for the Cup! We have Rickett, Donahue, Robbins, Larsson, Bole, Crenshaw, and captain Diggory!"

The game began, with Madame Hooch as referee, as she had willingly agreed to oversee as many games as she could. Other than her first-year flying lessons, she had very little to do and was eager to see some more action. The game continued on for some time, with a rather close score. The combination of former Hufflepuff player Anthony Rickett and young Gryffindor Demelza Robbins proved to be deadly, with Casey Donahue scoring many as well. Thanks to Macavoy's training, Raj and Victoria were able to keep up, but only just barely. As the game reached its hour mark, Harry found the Snitch and caught it, bringing the Emeralds to a win by seventy from their thirty point deficit. Both teams retreated to the locker rooms, showered, and changed, and then headed to the stands to watch the next match. Harry was bombarded by people congratulating him in the stands, but eventually got to his friends, who each laughed at his discomfort at his fame. Harry took the open seat between Daphne and Blaise that Tracey had just vacated to play her match, and let out a long sigh in exhaustion.

"You did great," came Daphne's voice from beside him.

"Thanks, Daph," Harry replied simply. Daphne blushed at the nickname. All of her friends used it, as did her sister, but Harry had only recently become comfortable with using nicknames for people who weren't Theo. Harry's eyes were closed as he rested in his seat, and thus once more missed Hermione's smirk in Daphne's direction. Daphne glared in return, just as Harry opened his eyes. He followed her glare to Hermione, an amused expression on his face, though he had no clue what the glare was for.

The Quidditch matches continued throughout the weekend to make for an enjoyable weekend for all of the students, who alternated between homework and watching an ongoing game. The teams proved to be very evenly balanced after the draft, and there were many close games over the course of the weekend. After Sunday, to everyone's surprise, Fred Weasley's Ruby team led the table after their less close game, which they had won 400 to 210 against the Roger Davies-led Obsidian team.

A few mornings later, Harry watched as an owl flew towards him with a letter. In a hasty scrawl, his name was written on an envelope the owl was carrying. As he always did with his mail after Black had escaped, he cast detection spells on the letter before deciding it was at least not deadly to open. Inside, Harry found a letter, and he quietly began to read, eyes furrowing more and more as he scanned the words. He didn't want to believe what was read there, but it made more and more sense the more he read the letter. The sender asked him to be by the Slytherin fireplace late at night, so that he or she might talk to Harry, and intrigued, Harry quickly scrawled a positive response. Then he showed the disquieting words to his friends. If the letter were to be believed, the Dark Lord was not only very much alive, but inside that very castle as Harry spoke. There was no signature, but Harry was certain they would determine the identity by the fireplace in a few days' time.

The days passed quickly, and a feeling of anticipation arose in the six Slytherins as they sat down by the fireplace late at night, waiting for the mystery sender to appear. They all knew it would be a Floo call, and felt safe with that knowledge, as the wards prevented anyone who intended any harm from actually transporting through the fire. At precisely one in the morning, a face appeared in the fire.

"Hello there, wasn't expecting so many of you," said the pleasant voice of a man. "Mind if I hop in to the common room?"

Harry looked around, and they shrugged at one another, knowing that if the man managed it, he meant no harm to them.

"Sure," Harry said skeptically, as he was certain the man had some ulterior motives. The face disappeared, and in its place, the man stepped gracefully out of the fireplace. He was a very handsome man, rather pale with dark hair framing his face in a slightly curly manner, dressed in everyday clothing.

"That's better," the man said. The six were too busy staring at the man in shock with their wands drawn and pointed. After all, it wasn't every day a mass murderer meant no harm to you. Sirius Black, albeit a much younger looking, much less ragged Sirius Black, stood in front of them, grinning happily.

"I read your letter, Mr. Black," Harry said, though he had since put away his wand. There were still five on Black, after all. "As did everyone here. We found it most...intriguing."

"I'm surprised you agreed to meet me at all. After all, what I expressed there isn't exactly popular. And none of that Mr. Black nonsense, call me Sirius."

"Before we get all familiar, Mr. Black, perhaps you would care to explain how you ended up in Azkaban?" Daphne asked coolly.

"Well, to be honest, I'm not quite sure. One evening, I was out at a bar, having a rather grand old time, and when I came home, I fell right asleep. The next morning, the DMLE is knocking down my door and arresting me. I was put on trial afterward, and I was found guilty of murder, and sent to Azkaban."

"So you were drunk and you killed a dude? Veritaserum never lies, Mr. Black," Theo said bitterly.

"Oh, you're Theo's kid, aren't you? A good man, Theo, you look just like him. Anyway, I know I wasn't drunk for sure, in those times getting drunk was a terrible idea, but it didn't mean you couldn't have a drink or two once in a while. And they never used Veritaserum, or they wouldn't have chucked me in. But they saw a memory in the trial, even showed me later, and there I was, on a street on the other side of town, laughing like a raving lunatic after blowing up a street."

The gears had already started turning in Harry's mind, and he said, "So you're saying someone glamoured themselves or used Polyjuice to commit a mass murder and send you to jail?"

Sirius thought about it for a minute, grinned, and replied, "You learn quick."

Harry just shrugged and motioned to Tracey, who handed him a vial. "You won't mind drinking a few drops of this and repeating the story then?"

Sirius smiled, dropped three drops on his tongue, and swallowed it, then repeated everything he had just said. He was greeted at the end of his tale by six faces staring at him with mouths agape, pondering the repercussions of this throughout the wizarding world and recent history.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the delayed update, it's been a whirlwind of a month! Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy it! As usual, please leave your thoughts in reviews!**

Sirius Black just laughed at their open-mouthed faces. Not that they didn't have a right to be shocked, their entire life had just been turned on its head. The guilty murderer was innocent, and a dark lord was loose in their very school. Sirius was surprised to find that Harry just looked pensive, as though this wasn't the biggest surprise of his lifetime.

"We have a plan to fix all of this," Sirius said. "But we're going to need your help to start smuggling things into the school, and it's going to take at least a year to finish it."

The six students nodded and listened as Sirius described to them their task. Sirius and his accomplices in this plan, who would all be proven innocent by the Hogwarts wards and Veritaserum should it be needed, would pass them the necessary items, where they would bring them to the Room of Requirement, a room that was hidden on the seventh floor of the castle. The room could conjure almost anything, including many of the elements of the plan, but as Sirius explained, all of the elements had to be natural as opposed to conjured.

Sirius left them then after giving Harry a mirror to contact him if necessary. Harry turned around, and immediately, all six began talking in hushed whispers about what had just happened. They quickly headed into the boys' dorm room instead of staying out in the common room, deciding it best they were not overheard.

"Sirius Black is innocent," Theo said, shocked. "And my dad is...he's innocent!" The others grinned at Theo's ecstatic proclamation. He had never believed his father's guilt, and to have it confirmed was a dream come true for Theo. He laughed out loud and jumped onto his bed, startling Daphne, who had stolen his place as they had arrived. The six began talking animatedly about what they had just heard, and were so excited that they did not sleep all night.

In the next months, late at night about once a week, Sirius or a co-conspirator of his would deliver them items through the Floo, or if it was small, in the mail where it could easily be missed. The six of them then brought it with them when they went to the Room of Requirement, which they had decided to use as their new private training room. The IHSO continued as usual, and Gilderoy Lockhart continued to take the credit for the vast improvement in Hogwarts students. The year continued as it had been going, and the year ended without much fanfare. Harry, Daphne, and Hermione continued to be the best students in their year, and did well on the end of year exams. The others had slightly more difficulty, though all passed with flying colors in the end. The end of the year also brought with it the Inter-House Quidditch League final, which saw the Emerald team play the Ruby team in an exciting thriller of a match. The match lasted almost three hours and was evenly matched the whole time, but eventually came to an end with a spectacular catch of the Snitch by Harry, which gave his team the lead and the win. The Emerald team landed on the ground, all piling onto Harry. When they got up, they went over to the Ruby team and shook hands with them. As they were doing so, Dumbledore and a man in formal robes approached Heidi, who the man had been told was the captain of the winning side. He spoke a couple words to her, and she excitedly gathered both the Ruby and Emerald teams to her.

"Due to the excellent performance of this league, as well as the initiative taken to integrate all those interested in Quidditch, the Department of Magical Games and Sports would like to take this opportunity to offer a ticket to the Quidditch World Cup final to every participating member in the Inter-House Quidditch League. Your cooperation with one another is truly outstanding, and your reforms to the rules are even being considered as potential official rules in the future by the International Quidditch Organization. We offer you these tickets in appreciation of this feat."

The two teams went crazy after this proclamation, and soon, the whole crowd knew of what had occurred. Everyone in the league laughed and whooped in joy. Harry spotted Jason looking positively murderous. Harry soon found himself lifted into the air, praises for his conception of the league being lavished upon him.

The day after the match, all of the students boarded the train once more to head home. Everyone was cheerful except one Jason Potter and his best friend Ronald Weasley. They looked decidedly miserable, but they had for the whole year. Harry, Daphne, Blaise, Theo, Tracey, and Hermione found a compartment together and sat down, chatting amiably. The train departed the station, and a while later, Ginny came skipping into their compartment, laughing. She sat down in an open seat next to Harry, but did not stop laughing for quite some time.

"What is it?" Harry asked her.

"Well, my dear brother Ronald decided to give me a visit while I was sitting in the other compartment, and I thought you'd like to hear about it," she said when she had managed to stop laughing.

"Oh no, what happened this time?" Hermione asked.

"Well, Ron blames us for his performance in class," Ginny giggled. "He has to do remedial summer classes now if he doesn't want to repeat third year."

The group burst out laughing at this, as Ron bragged that he was one of the most brilliant wizards of his age, somehow ignoring his class rank as better only than Vincent Crabbe.

"Wait...how is that our fault?" Daphne asked.

"Everyone got better, and he knows it's because of the IHSO. He seems to think that everyone should be worse to make him look better," Ginny said. "Apparently we're not supposed to help people improve."

Everyone else burst out laughing again at that, until Harry spotted Jason and Ron walking purposefully toward their compartment. Before the two could see, Harry waved his hand at the door, closing and locking it. Jason approached the door and attempted to pull it open. When he was unsuccessful, he attempted an unlocking spell they had all learned earlier in school. When this failed, Jason pounded on the door and yelled at them to let them in. Harry looked around the compartment, and everyone just shook their heads gleefully. Jason and Ron gave up after a while, though Harry was sure he would be hearing something about it from Jason at home. The rest of the ride continued in peace, and when they reached Kings Cross, they said their usual goodbyes before going off to meet their guardians. As soon as Harry reached his parents, Jason quickly asked him why he had locked his compartment door.

"I didn't," Harry responded with a confused expression on his face.

"Yeah, you did! We knocked, too!" Jason replied heatedly.

Harry just looked at him strangely, as though he had gone crazy, or as if something were a little bit off about him. This argument continued until Lily stopped it as they Apparated back to the manor.

As with the previous year, Harry was allowed to see most of his friends, though he never went directly to Theo's house. Ginny came with Ron to the Potter house often as well, and she and Harry often studied higher-level curriculum and practiced their wandless magic. Harry had gotten to the point where he was fairly certain he could receive good marks on the Ordinary Wizarding Levels, and was planning to ask Professor Snape if he could sit his fourth year exams and O.W.L.s at the beginning of the year to advance directly to sixth year. As it turned out, top students skipping years had once been a fairly common practice at Hogwarts, and now Harry was planning to make up for not having done so earlier. Hermione and Daphne both were planning to attempt the jump to fifth year that year, and Ginny was planning to jump two levels as well due to her direct tutelage from Harry. On top of that, she had proven to be a brilliant and extremely talented witch. Mrs. Weasley surprisingly had warmed to Harry, as she thought he was the reason behind Ginny's incredible marks, which far outdid all of her brothers. Harry and his friends when they met would often head to the Nott mansion to see Sirius Black, who was staying there with the elder Theodore Nott. The mansion had plenty of places to hide, and the Ministry had yet to search the house. The younger Theo Nott was ecstatic at having his father back. The friends also heard the rumors flying around the Ministry about an event at Hogwarts that had not happened for many years. It seemed very much like an open secret in the wizarding world, as quite a few wizards worked in the Ministry. It quickly escaped that this event would be the Triwizard Tournament, and there was a palpable excitement in all the students as they headed back for their next year at Hogwarts.

The biggest talk of the summer, though, was of course the Quidditch Cup final. As they were part of the league, Harry, Tracey, Theo, and Ginny all had tickets to go, and were very excited. Daphne and Blaise had secured tickets the moment they could, and they had all pitched in to buy Hermione a ticket as well.

On the day of the match, all seven woke bright and early, and met at Greengrass Manor. Jason and Ronald would be going to the final as well, but did not want to be associated with the Slytherins. The seven talked for a while until it was time to go. A rusted frying pan sat on the table, and each of them touched a piece of it. It glowed blue, and suddenly, they were brought to a large open field dominated by the largest Quidditch stadium any of them had ever seen. There was plenty of space to pitch tents in front of it, as many people had already done. All of the seven had received permission from their guardians to stay with their friends in the tent at the event. After all, they went to a boarding school, where this rooming was routine. They pitched their two tents, which on the outside, looked as though they could barely hold one person, but on the inside, was rather spacious and had plenty of room. They then found the cheapest vendor and bought the merchandise they had hoped to acquire before the crowds got too large. Each also had a pair of Omnioculars, which would allow them to view the action more clearly and replay things, that had been lent to them by Daphne's father. They returned to their tents, all of them gathering in the boys' tent. Harry went in first and sat on his bed, and was soon followed by each of the boys. Ginny followed and sat down next to Harry, which immediately caused Daphne to be somewhat jealous, as Harry made no move to move her away. Instead, he happily started talking to Ginny. Tracey followed Daphne's line of sight and snickered, causing Daphne to turn around and elbow Tracey sharply.

"It's going to be Bulgaria," Theo was saying heatedly. "You can't beat Krum, and the Snitch is still worth 150 points in this game."

"Yeah, Krum carried his team to the finals, but I don't think they stand a chance this time," Harry responded.

"Ireland's Chasers are the best in the world right now," Ginny added helpfully.

This debate continued for some time until they heard a knock on their tent. Being the closest to the door, Blaise stood and opened the tent flap.

"How can I help you?" he asked.

A gruff, accented voice responded, "Ah, you are Blaise Zabini, are you not?"

"Yes...that's me..." Blaise stammered. "Would you like to come in?"  
"That would be lovely," the voice spoke. "I vas hoping to see the other students who made this study group in Hogvarts."

With that sentence, no one other than Viktor Krum himself walked into their tent.

"Well, you've found us," Harry said. "I'm Harry Potter, call me Harry."

"Viktor Krum, nice to meet you, and call me Viktor then," Krum responded.

The others all quickly introduced themselves with many a stammer and stutter.

"What brings you here?" Harry asked, seemingly unaffected by the famous Seeker who had just entered the tent.

"Well, I heard of your Quidditch league and your study group in the news in Durmstrang after Hogwarts beat Durmstrang in rankings," Krum said. "And I wanted to see those who led the group. You're quite famous now, you know. It's not easy to teach at such a young age."

The seven looked around the tent at each other incredulously, happily accepting Krum's praise.

"Also, I have heard that Harry is an outstanding Seeker, and wanted to see him play a bit. If you would all like to come, I would be happy to teach you as well," Viktor said, and was immediately met by gaping mouths.

"You don't practice today?" Harry asked curiously.

"Oh, we are not allowed to because of a Quidditch tradition. Neither team may practice on the day of the final," Krum explained. "One more thing. You know of the Triwizard Tournament this year?"

"Of course," Hermione said, to everyone's surprise.

"Well, I will be at Hogwarts this year for the tournament, and I wish to attend some of your meetings, if that is okay?"

"Sure," Harry said. "I hope you can teach us all some things as well."

"I would be happy to," Viktor said eagerly. "Now, would you like to see the pitch?"

With that, the seven followed Krum to the pitch, where they spent the afternoon playing casual games of Quidditch with him and some of the members of both the Bulgarian and Irish teams, who were, to everyone's surprise, quite friendly with one another. Harry also got in a Snitch chase against Viktor, and to everyone's immense surprise, almost caught the Snitch. Viktor only managed it using a few quick moves he had picked up after years of professional Quidditch. After all of this, they happily left the pitch to get ready for the game itself, and came back soon to their seats to view it. The game proved an exhilarating one, and in the end, Harry and Ginny had been correct. The game dragged on, as Viktor prevented the Irish Seeker from catching the Snitch on multiple occasions, but the Bulgarians were always more than 150 points behind, and eventually, the Irish Seeker found an opening and ended the game. The stadium erupted in a cheer, and then the celebrations began in earnest. As everyone headed back to their tents, a feeling of elation was in the air, and even the Bulgarian fans weren't too depressed, as they had just witnessed an amazing Quidditch match.

The seven friends headed back to their respective tents, all talking excitedly about the different plays in the match that they would watch again on their Omnioculars later. It was a while before they fell asleep that evening, but eventually, they did.

They were awoken not by the dawning of the new day, but by the sounds of screaming and the heat of fires. All of them got up quickly or were dragged out of bed by their friends. They exited the tent, watching in horror as people in black robes and masks set fire to the tents, levitating people in the air, and yelling around the word "Mudblood" like it was common language. They were yelling about what happens to them when they attend these events, and Hermione was becoming visibly upset.

"We should stop them," Hermione said.

"Well then, let's do it," Harry said. "But if they're too strong, fall back."

They crept forward, putting out fires where they could, steadily making progress toward the intruders. However, before they could reach them, one of them set a row of tents in front of them ablaze, making a huge line of fire that just couldn't be put out with water charms alone. Eventually, the fire simply became too hot to stand near for any length of time, and they retreated to a safer place, looking for anyone nearby. Suddenly, a bright light lit up the sky, and a mark that had not haunted the skies of Britain for fourteen years appeared once more.

"The Dark Mark," Theo whispered. "And those were Death Eaters, for sure."

Everyone there knew of the Death Eaters' existence, of course. One couldn't be a Slytherin and not have heard it used as an insult at some point or another. They wandered through the burned camping grounds, and eventually found Ministry adults, who gave them a Portkey to bring them back home. Once home, they Flooed back to their respective houses, and were all met by relieved parents and guardians.

Later in the summer, Harry, Daphne, Hermione, and Ginny had sent letters to their respective heads of House and had all received a positive response, and were heading back to Hogwarts early to take the necessary exams. The four of them sat in Potter Manor's kitchen, as the Potters had, to Harry's immense surprise, agreed to Apparate the four to Hogwarts.

"Oh, I'm so proud," Harry heard Mrs. Weasley say. "My Ginny, taking tests to skip a year!"

Harry looked over and saw Ron standing sourly in the corner. Ronald had just barely managed to avoid repeating third year, and was now being largely overshadowed by his sister, which Harry knew caused him a myriad of insecurities.

Indeed, Ronald Weasley had believed that he could do no wrong after his mother disapproved of Ginny's Sorting. However, a few years had allowed Mrs. Weasley to warm to the idea, and after seeing Ginny's marks, Mrs. Weasley had lightened up on the Slytherin hate with much help from Arthur Weasley, who was surprisingly very neutral in opinion. Ronald had always been afraid of being the worst and least significant of his brothers, and now he was the worst among all of his siblings, at least in his mother's view. Fred and George had started developing products for their line of prank items and had made quite a good deal of money selling in Hogwarts, and had since fallen out of the "least favorite child" spot that Ron hated.

The Weasley matriarch left the house, and the two Potter parents took two children each and Apparated them to Hogsmeade, right outside of Hogwarts. They were met by Professor Snape, who nodded at the Potters with a distinct grimace on his face and escorted the four students up to the castle. They were brought to the Great Hall, and began their exams immediately. In the next two days, all of the exams for each subject in one year, both practical and theoretical aspects, were covered. The results were obtained instantaneously, as magic allowed for easy grading. The next day, the four discovered that all of them had skipped the desired year, and Harry and Ginny began taking their tests to skip a second year. For Ginny, it was the exams that the other three had just passed. Harry, however, had to pass the OWLs in all of the subjects he was taking. The testing process for this took another two days, and afterward, it was determined that both were allowed to skip their respective years. Harry had achieved an Outstanding mark in every exam except for Herbology and History of Magic, where he had attained an Exceeds Expectations.

That evening, the students would arrive, but there was a sense of unease lingering in the castle from the attacks at the Quidditch World Cup. No one had died there, for which the world was grateful, but the message was clear: Voldemort's ideology and followers were on the rise again.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hey all, sorry it's been a long time, I've been so busy these last couple months, but I finally have a new update! I'll admit, it's been a bit since I wrote, so please let me know if there are any continuity errors and the like. As for reviewers, thank you very much!**

 **doopy52 - Honestly, I'm not sure what to do with the Potters yet. I think I'm at a good spot to go pretty much any way with them, but I'll try to include a bit more interaction there. The third year electives are a good point, I don't believe I ever did include them - that and the answers to a few more of your questions are in this chapter.**

 **Thanks again for everyone's reviews!**

The rest of the student body arrived that evening, and the Sorting proceeded as usual. Harry had not paid attention to the names of any of the new Slytherins this year, but he noticed gladly that there were far fewer of the usual jeers whenever a new student entered Slytherin. As for the professors, for a record second year in a row, the staff remained entirely unchanged, with Gilderoy Lockhart once again reprising his role as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. However, most of the country knew by now that he was simply there to give pretense that there was a class at all.

The students happily dug into their feast, eating and catching up with the friends they hadn't seen on the train, as one did during the welcome feast. After the students had finished dessert, Dumbledore stood to give his closing remarks, as was customary.

"So, a sixth year now, huh?" Theo asked Harry.

Harry just nodded in response.

"You can't get a job before you're seventeen anyway," Tracey said. "Why bother skipping?"

"Oh, after what would be seventh year, we still come back to Hogwarts, but we help teach classes and start work beyond N.E.W.T. level. Pretty much every professor here skipped a grade or two while at Hogwarts," Harry responded.

"Fun, so you'll still be here a while," Blaise said.

"Yeah," Harry responded. At that moment, Dumbledore rose from his seat at the head table, and began to speak.

"Students! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! A few announcements before I send you off to bed, and a few exciting ones they are! First of all, I would like to remind you that the dark forest on the grounds is forbidden, and that there is an extensive list of banned items here in the castle. Consult the list on Mr. Filch's office for more information. Now, on to more exciting, less usual news. I offer my congratulations this year to a few of our students, who have proved themselves ahead of their age. Miss Ginny Weasley of Slytherin House, Miss Hermione Granger of Gryffindor, and Miss Daphne Greengrass of Slytherin, congratulations to all three of you on your promotion to fifth year. Mister Harry Potter, special congratulations to you on your promotion to sixth year."

At this statement, the hall began whispering. Harry did not catch much, but from what he did hear, most of it was about him, as he had passed the O.W.L.s on independent study, a feat which had not happened since before the first war with Voldemort. He also caught the surprised and simultaneously annoyed looks of both Jason Potter and Ronald Weasley, neither of whom, it seemed, enjoyed being one-upped by his sibling. Matthias Yaxley, now a sixth-year Slytherin Prefect, walked over to Harry, clapped him on the back, and shook his hand.

"Yes, yes, all very exciting news," Dumbledore said after the whispers had died down a bit. "I'm afraid I have yet more to tell. This year, Hogwarts will play host to the Triwizard Tournament."

Immediately, some of the hall was buzzing with excited chatter. The other people in the hall just looked bored, as this was common knowledge for those with parents who were employees at the Ministry.

"Due to the danger associated with the tournament that also led to its end many years ago, we will be stipulating that all potential participants must be seventeen or older to participate in the tournament. I will draw the age line myself, so do yourself a few favors and do not attempt to hoodwink it. Now, I have talked enough. To bed with all of you!"

Loud complaints came from many in the hall, most notably the Weasley twins, who desperately wished to participate. Jason and Ronald did not look too happy about this development either. Most of the hall indeed looked surprised, as this had not been specified by many parents. While there were some disappointed individuals, the majority of the student body had not been planning to enter it anyway, so they were altogether unaffected by the age restriction.

Regardless of this fact, there was still a sense of excitement about the castle in the next few weeks, as everyone could not wait to meet the students from the other two schools. Classes proceeded as normal with the four who had skipped years attending their new classes. On the first weekend of the year, six Slytherins and a Gryffindor headed to the Room of Requirement for their own training and to meet once more with Sirius Black. They entered the room, which contained all of the pieces they had collected thus far, and waited for the fire to roar to life. It did so a couple minutes later, depositing Sirius Black on the floor.

"Hello," he said cheerily.

"Hello," they all responded.

"Well, we're almost done setting up," Sirius said. "In another month, we should be done with this, and then it's got to sit until the end of the school year. It's extremely powerful, after all."

"It was absolutely brilliant to base it on Muggle machinery," Hermione gushed. "I mean, some of it has to be magical, obviously, but it's a genius design."

Sirius laughed. "What can I say? I'm just that good."

"Sure, except you didn't design this, you said so yourself," Harry pointed out. Sirius laughed again, and just nodded.

"So, I hear the Triwizard Tournament is back," Sirius said. "Anyone here entering?"

"They placed a restriction on it," Daphne responded. "That particular secret was well-kept. Only seventh years can enter, basically."

"Good thing to hear he's finally doing something right," muttered Sirius. "Any thoughts as to who it'll be?"

"Not really," Theo said. "I mean, there are obvious choices for each house, but among those there's no clear choice."

"Jessica Harrison is definitely the best in Slytherin," Blaise said. The Slytherins present all murmured their agreement, although Harry was reluctant to do so due to his defeat at her hands in the dueling tournament his first year.

"Angelina Johnson is the favorite in Gryffindor," Hermione added.

"Really?" Harry asked. "Gryffindor has many better competitors than Johnson. I'd have put my money on one of the Weasley twins if they were seventeen."

"There are only really one or two better than Angelina, and they don't want to compete," Hermione replied defensively.

"Well, it's definitely not going to be Johnson," Ginny said. "She's good, but she's definitely not as good as Jess."

Sirius watched, amused, as they began a debate as to whose name would come out of the goblet for Hogwarts. In the end, all of the Slytherins agreed on Jessica Harrison as the top candidate, while Hermione argued for the Hufflepuff Cedric Diggory, who was the top contender for the Hogwarts championship at the moment.

"In any case, please don't try to put your names in," Sirius interrupted. "I don't know why anyone wants to do this, it's just reckless." They all nodded, not having wanted to put their names in the goblet, even if they had been allowed to do so.

The seven stayed in the room until it became quite late, and they left the room to go to their respective rooms.

In an office in another part of the school, Albus Dumbledore moved into the secret room he had avoided for some time now. In it, he kept the remains of the so-called Lord Voldemort trapped, and he hoped that the spirit would eventually lose all power in it. However, as he walked into the room, he got a shock when he found that there was no spirit in there at all. The dome had been impenetrable, or so Dumbledore thought. After all, he himself had created it, and there was no way Voldemort could overpower a wizard as powerful as himself.

Life in the castle progressed as it normally would, but this year, there was much more excitement in the air. The official Hogwarts Quidditch season had been canceled that year officially due to the Triwizard Tournament occurring, though most people assumed it was due to the lack of interest after the continuation of the IHQL. Before the cancellation had been announced, every house had went to recruit players, and Ravenclaw and Slytherin had failed to even form one team. The IHQL, on the other hand, added a new team, and had even more people try out than the last year. As it was also not an official league, but rather a student-run league, it could not be canceled by the administration. However, everyone was rather happy with this, as the IHQL had been a staple of the previous year. Only the Gryffindors, particularly the fourth-years, were upset over the dissolution of the official Quidditch league. Jason Potter had written an angry letter home to his parents, practically demanding it be reinstated, and could often be heard loudly complaining and belittling his brother after what he considered to be the greatest insult to his ability as a Seeker. He was largely ignored, but many of his fellow Gryffindors agreed with his opinion of Harry, though they were the minority. The most surprising thing for Jason was the letter he received back from his parents, which told him in nicer terms to stop whining and that there was nothing they could do about it. This rumor did go around, and Harry was rather shocked by this. While his parents had lightened up on him considerably, he had not expected anything even close to an endorsement or support for his actions.

Finally, the day that all of the student body had been anticipating had come: the day of the other schools' arrivals. At the expected time, seemingly all of Hogwarts stood outside, awaiting the entrance of the contingents from their fellow schools. An eerie silence fell upon everyone there, as the students waited in anticipation of the other schools. Suddenly, a whisper started in the students, accompanied by a finger pointing at a figure in the sky. Soon, all of the students were looking at the approaching flying object, watching as it came closer.

"It's a carriage!" one of the students yelled. Sure enough, a carriage approached the students, drawn by flying horses, wings beating in tandem. It slowed down as it approached the ground, and eventually touched down. After it had stopped completely, a door opened on the side of the carriage, and a large woman emerged. She was greeted happily by the headmaster, who loudly announced to the student body that the woman was Madame Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons. Many students from the academy then filed out behind Madame Maxime, but perhaps the most noticeable was a girl with long silver hair. The eyes of most of the male population of Hogwarts were immediately drawn to her, and followed her every move. Harry watched as she moved gracefully towards the entrance of Hogwarts, and was only pulled away by a smack on the back of his head. He turned to the side it had come from and saw Ginny rolling her eyes at him.

"Not you too," she said. "She's not that pretty." Harry just muttered something under his breath, blushing a deep red, and determinedly did not look at the girl with the long silver hair. He soon found that he was lucky to have gotten away with a smack on the head, as Blaise was punched by Tracey and Theo was left to stare, though he very slowly managed to pull himself away. By the time he had, everyone was now intently looking at the lake and yelling, as a mast had just emerged from the lake, and bit by bit, a massive ship emerged.

"That's Viktor," Blaise said, pointing to one of the figures at the front of the boat. "You know he's the favorite to win the Triwizard right now?"

"Honestly, Blaise, we've never even see him do magic, how do we know he's not awful at it?" Hermione asked.

Blaise shrugged and said defensively, "I was just saying!"

Much the same procedure then happened, with Dumbledore introducing the Durmstrang headmaster Igor Karkaroff, though oddly, he did not look happy about it.

"Those two don't like each other at all," Theo muttered. The others all agreed. They watched as the Durmstrang students marched in. Harry saw Jason and Ron along with many other students, point excitedly at Viktor Krum, who was recognized by all. After they had entered, the Hogwarts students entered behind them, and passed them to lead them into the Great Hall. As the other two schools entered, the students were told they could sit wherever they chose to do so. Upon hearing this, many students became excited, wondering where Viktor Krum would sit. As Krum entered, there was a loud cheer, and many calls for him to sit. However, Krum ignored this, and looked around the hall. Eventually, his eyes fell on Blaise, who had been waving at him, and Viktor walked towards him, sitting with the group of six Slytherins. Viktor smiled, greeting them all, and introduced his friends from Durmstrang, who had followed him there, to them. Across the hall, Hermione smirked from the Gryffindor table as Jason glared at Harry, who was sitting across from Viktor.

"Think it's funny, Granger?" Ron asked. "He should be sitting with us! He doesn't even know them."

"That's why he's sitting with them, Ronald," Hermione replied sweetly. "He does already know them."

"Oh? Right, and I suppose you know him, too, then?" Jason asked. Hermione simply smiled in response and got up from her seat at the Gryffindor table. She walked over to the Slytherins, and easily greeted her friends. She then turned to Viktor and smiled, briefly hugging him in welcome, laughing easily at what he said, and talking to him for a couple minutes, before returning to her seat at the Gryffindor table. As she sat down, she simply smirked again at Jason and Ron, who both sat with their mouths agape in disbelief.

"You..." Jason stammered. "You hugged Viktor Krum?"

"You know him and you didn't wave him over?!" Ron asked angrily.

"He knew more of them anyway," Hermione said. "And I'm sure he'll have wanted to talk about the IHQL with them. I'm not too interested in that talk, though the sport itself is kind of fun."

"When have you played? Last time I checked, you can't fly a broom!" Ron snorted.

"For your information, Ronald, Theo taught me my second year, and Viktor gave me some pointers over the summer," Hermione informed him.

"You've flown with Viktor Krum?" Jason asked incredulously. Hermione just hummed noncommittally, and went back to her food, smirking.

From the Slytherin table, Harry watched the exchange, understanding the gist from the body language, with great amusement.

"Seems my brother isn't too happy with Hermione knowing you," Harry laughed.

"Ah, so that's your brother," Viktor said, looking at Jason.

"Yeah," said Harry. "He's not so bad when he's not around the other Gryffindors, particularly Ron."

"Ron's an idiot," Ginny piped up from Harry's side. "He's my brother."

"I see," Viktor said. "They certainly seem the jealous type."

"Ron is at least," Harry said. "Jason can be."

At that moment, Albus Dumbledore stood from his position at the head table and began to speak.

"Welcome to our friends from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang! I hope you will find yourselves at home here." his voice boomed. "Now, I will introduce the impartial judge, who, a week from now, will select our champions. As per Triwizard history, may I introduce to you, the Goblet of Fire!"

The students watched, awestruck, as Dumbledore revealed an intricate stone goblet, lit with swirling flames.

"Any student wishing to compete must place his or her name in the goblet within the next week! A week from now, the goblet will select one contestant for each school to participate! As was mentioned to you all, no student under seventeen years of age may participate! I personally will be drawing an age line around the goblet, and as an ancient magical artifact, the goblet is impossible to hoodwink, so I advise you all not to try." Dumbledore said this last part with a glare towards the Weasley twins. The Weasley twins just shrugged. "With that, I bid you good luck and good night!"

Everyone in the hall began to move toward their common rooms. The two new school contingents had been given their own common rooms and dormitories, as in such a large castle, spares had been made.

The week continued in a state of excitement, with a betting pool forming over who would be picked as champions. The betting pool for Durmstrang was the least active, as there were few bets that Viktor Krum would not be champion. On the other hand, the betting pools for Beauxbatons and Hogwarts were very varied. The favorite for Beauxbatons was a girl named Jacqueline Dubois, though she held only a slim lead over Fleur Delacour, the silver haired girl who had many of the boys drooling throughout the day. The Hogwarts pool was so close it may as well have been a three-way tie. The current leader was a Ravenclaw named Monica Jefferson, universally recognized as the brightest witch currently at Hogwarts. Other students, such as Harry, thought that while Monica was extremely talented in areas like Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and the like, she would not fare well in a duel or when faced with physical challenges as opposed to more abstract ones. These others had made Monica tie with Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff and Jessica Harrison of Slytherin, both of whom were also bright and better on their feet than Monica. Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor lay behind as a distant fourth.

Despite the headmaster's warnings, the Weasley twins had in fact attempted, unsuccessfully, to breach the age line. The age line had simply left them unable to cross despite the perfectly brewed aging potion they had made.

In a different room of the castle, a shade of a man who once was looked down at the nearly completed machine and laughed gleefully. Just a little longer, and his pain would be banished. He could once more pursue his goals, and this time, he would not be pushed around by the old maniac that had once destroyed his life.


End file.
